The United States has a lot of dogs. According to the Humane Society, 7 percent of the population owns a dog. Unfortunately, with a large number of dogs also comes a lot of dog bites.
If you want to learn a few surprising statistics about dog bites in the US, continue reading. Knowing more might help you avoid a traumatic incident in the future. The statistics below come from Petpedia.
Unneutered dogs bite the most
Neutered dogs are much safer than unneutered dogs. Males are over two and a half times more likely to bite when they do not get fixed. Of all dog bites, 70 percent occur with an unneutered male.
Stay away from poorly treated dogs
Well-treated dogs are much less likely to bite you. If you see a tethered dog or a dog kept in poor conditions, do not interact with that dog. Tethered dogs are nearly three times more likely to bite you.
More statistics
Dogs are responsible for 4.5 million bites every year. Of these incidents, 800,000 require medical treatment and about 1 out of 112,000 results in death. However, even if you do not need to seek professional medical care, you still need to clean and disinfect the wound.
You cannot always control your environment. However, a little knowledge about dog bites and where they are most likely to occur might make a difference for your safety. If a dog attacks you, take care of your injury, take photos of the damage and get the owner’s information. Doing so might make the difference in receiving compensation for your injury.