Dear Council Members,
I realize that dog bites have been portrayed as an increasing public safety
hazard. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (NEISS data for
2003), mishaps involving dogs resulted in approximately the same number of
emergency room treated injuries per year (~340,000) as mishaps involving
......TABLES!
*From: Dogs Bite, But Balloons and Slippers are
More Dangerous. Janis Bradley, 2005. James & Kenneth Publishing,
Berkeley, CA
I think we'll all agree there is no need to require owners of tables to have
liability insurance. Perhaps, with a proper perspective, we can all agree that
the same applies in the case of dogs that have exhibited no aggressive behavior,
regardless of breed.
Sincerely,
Karen Brinkley
FOLLOW-UP:
Data from 10-15 year CDC sponsored studies reveal the following about RARE
causes of deaths (annual average):
Annual deaths due to lightning: 82
Annual deaths due to forklifts: 68
Annual deaths due to dogs (all breeds): 16
Data from 10-15 year CDC sponsored studies reveal the following about RARE
causes of death to CHILDREN (annual average):
Human caregivers 826
5 gallon buckets 22
Playground equipment 15
Balloons 11
Dogs 10
Data on ER treated injuries to humans caused by animals (from NEISS and WISQARS):
Horses: over 10,000 injuries per million animals
Dogs: less than 6,000 injuries per million animals
**Note: Humans spend much more time around horses than dogs--so per exposure
time, dogs are infinitely less dangerous than horses.
Severity of Dog Bite injuries:
92.4% of dog bite injuries require a band aid or less
7.5 % of dog bite injuries are rated as "minor" by doctors (no lasting
impairment, fast healing)
0.076% of dog bite injuries are moderate-serious
From: Dogs Bite, But Balloons and Slippers are
More Dangerous. Janis Bradley, 2005. Kenneth & James Publishing,
Berkeley, CA