When your best friend bites: A note on dog and cat bites

Insights about the Epidemiology of Dog Bites in a Canadian City Using a Dog Aggression Scale and Administrative Data

Simple Summary

Any dog is capable of biting, and dog bites can cause serious injuries to humans or other animals. To prevent dogs from biting, we need to understand the circumstances in which dog bites are most likely to occur. Once we have that information, we can act by improving public awareness and tailoring interventions to those most at risk of being injured. In this study, we assess the circumstances surrounding dog-bite injuries, by considering dog-bite severity in conjunction with information about where the incident occurred, about human victims, and about the dogs themselves. This approach was possible because The City of Calgary systematically tracks dog-bite severity. We found that from 2012–2017, the number of severe bites occurring in Calgary has fallen. That said, severe bites tended to occur in the homes where the dogs lived, and to be directed towards children and older adults. The results from our study underscore that educational communication for parents, grandparents, and other caregivers should emphasize the importance of constant supervision around dogs, including family dogs, whenever children are present. In addition, more attention should be paid to the risks that dogs pose to older adults. Failure to protect people from dog-bite injuries has implications for the dogs’ own welfare, as well as for human health. Dogs are most likely to bite when they feel insecure in the first place. Furthermore, common responses to severe dog-bite injuries in people include rehoming and euthanizing dogs.

Abstract

Dog bites are a public health concern that also implicates animal welfare, with negative outcomes such as rehoming or euthanasia for the animals responsible. Previous research has shown that the severity of dog-bite injuries reflects multiple factors, including the degree of inhibition exhibited by dogs and how people behave towards dogs. This study utilizes an objective dog bite injury assessment tool: The Dunbar aggression scale. Trained officers employed by The City of Calgary systematically use the Dunbar scale whenever investigating dog-bite complaints. We analyzed The City of Calgary’s administrative data on confirmed dog-bite injuries in people, 2012–2017, with a multivariable generalized ordered logistic regression model. Severe dog-bite injuries occurred more frequently in the family home than in any other setting. Young children, youths and older adults were at higher risk of more serious bites than adults. There has been a decreasing trend in the probability of a high or medium severity bite, and an increasing trend in the probability of a low severity bite since 2012. These results indicate that greater public awareness regarding dog-bite injuries is needed. Consideration should be given to campaigns targeted towards different demographics, including older adults, to provide an understanding of dog behaviour and to emphasize the need to supervise children closely in the presence of all dogs at all times, including family dogs in the home environment. Given that dog-bite injuries are not just a public health issue, but also an animal welfare issue, we endorse One Health responses in educational campaigns, policy development, and professional practice.

Maxillofacial injuries due to animal bites

INTRODUCTION

Animal bites are a significant public health problem, with the majority of bites coming from dogs, cats and humans. These may present as punctures, abrasions, tears, or avulsions. The force and relative bluntness of the teeth also increases the possibility of a crush injury with devitalized tissue .The clinical presentation and appropriate treatment of infected bite wounds vary according to the animal and causative organisms. These wounds have always been considered complex injuries contaminated with a unique polymicrobial inoculum.

MATERIALS

This article reviews animal bite wound incidence, bacteriology, risk factors for complications, evaluation components, recommended treatment and prevention based on advanced PUBMED search of the English language literature from the years 1970 to present.

CONCLUSION

As the bite wounds are frequently located on the face, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon needs to be familiar with the treatment of animal bites, pitfalls in management and to educate patients on ways to avoid future bite injuries. The management of animal bites is an evidence poor area and most recommendations are based on small case series, microbiological data and expert opinion. The main controversies include whether wounds should or should not undergo primary closure and the use of prophylactic antimicrobials.

Comparative wound healing--are the small animal veterinarian's clinical patients an improved translational model for human wound healing research?

Despite intensive research efforts into understanding the pathophysiology of both chronic wounds and scar formation, and the development of wound care strategies to target both healing extremes, problematic wounds in human health care remain a formidable challenge. Although valuable fundamental information regarding the pathophysiology of problematic wounds can be gained from in vitro investigations and in vivo studies performed in laboratory animal models, the lack of concordance with human pathophysiology has been cited as a major impediment to translational research in human wound care. Therefore, the identification of superior clinical models for both chronic wounds and scarring disorders should be a high priority for scientists who work in the field of human wound healing research. To be successful, translational wound healing research should function as an intellectual ecosystem in which information flows from basic science researchers using in vitro and in vivo models to clinicians and back again from the clinical investigators to the basic scientists. Integral to the efficiency of this process is the incorporation of models which can accurately predict clinical success. The aim of this review is to describe the potential advantages and limitations of using clinical companion animals (primarily dogs and cats) as translational models for cutaneous wound healing research by describing comparative aspects of wound healing in these species, common acute and chronic cutaneous wounds in clinical canine and feline patients, and the infrastructure that currently exists in veterinary medicine which may facilitate translational studies and simultaneously benefit both veterinary and human wound care patients.

The management of bite wounds in children--a retrospective analysis at a level I trauma centre

INTRODUCTION

Animal bite wounds are a significant problem, which have caused several preventable child deaths in clinical practice in the past. The majority of bite wounds is caused by dogs and cats, and also humans have to be considered to lead to those extreme complicated diagnosis in the paediatric patient population. Early estimation of infection risk, adequate antibiotic therapy and, if indicated, surgical treatment, are cornerstones of successful cures of bite wounds. However, antibiotic prophylaxis and wound management are discussed controversially in the current literature. In our study, we retrospectively investigated the bite source, infection risk and treatment options of paediatric bite wounds.

METHODS

A total of 1592 paediatric trauma patients were analysed over a period of 19 years in this retrospective study at a level I trauma centre, Department of Trauma Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Data for this study were obtained from our electronic patient records and follow-up visits. In our database, all paediatric patients triaged to our major urban trauma centre have been entered retrospectively.

RESULTS

During the 19-year study period, 1592 paediatric trauma patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 7.7 years (range 0-18.9), 878 (55.2%) were males and 714 (44.8%) were females. In our study population, a total of 698 dog bites (43.8%), 694 human bites (43.6%), 138 other bites (8.7%) and 62 cat bites (3.9%) have been observed. A total of 171 wounds (10.7%) have been infected. Surgical intervention was done in 27 wounds (1.7%).

CONCLUSION

Gender-related incidence in bite wounds for dog and cat could be detected. Second, our findings for originator of bite wounds reflect the findings in the published literature. Total infection rate reached 10.7%, primary antibiotic therapy was administered in 221 cases (13.9%) and secondary antibiotic therapy in 20 (1.3%) cases. Observed infection rate of punctured wounds and wounds greater than 3 cm was 3 times higher than for all other wounds. Our findings need to be proven in further prospective clinical trials.