Dangerous dogs are a true public safety risk.

They make victims out of millions of Americans each year. According to the American Humane Association (AHA), about 4.7 million dog bites occur in the United States each year, with nearly 800,000 dog bite victims requiring medical treatment for their injuries.

Tragically, most of these dog bites involve children who are under the age of 12 and will require them to undergo treatment in the emergency room or extensive hospitalization, a traumatizing event at any age. Perhaps the most surprising fact of the AHAs dog bite statistics is that, in the vast majority of dog bites, the victims knew the dog.

Family pets can be a major risk

In many cases, the dog that attacked was the pet of a family member, friend or neighbor, according to the associations data. In addition, many attacks often occur on or near the victims property. Many people hate to think badly of how close friends, relatives or neighbors care for their pets, but in reality, even a dog that seems mild can attack, and those injuries are in part caused by a lack of responsibility on the part of the owner.

Negligence in a Dog Attack Case

This negligence can include failure to properly train or care for their pets, failure to warn guests in their home of the risk of attack if the dog was known to be dangerous, and failure to restrain their pets on a leash or on their property In response to this very real problem, some states have enacted dangerous dog legislation, which prohibits ownership of certain breeds, such as pit bulls and Rottweilers, or requires those breeds to be spayed and neutered.

The Laws Governing Dog Bites

While other states havent gone that far, laws that require dogs to be restrained on public property and supervised on private property are common in many places, including in Pennsylvania. If you or a loved one has been bitten by a dog in Pennsylvania, you dont have to face the consequences alone.

Dog bites across the United States cause serious injuries nearly every day, and some dog bites even lead to death. A qualified dog bite attorney can help you along the recovery process after a dog attack and make sure that you are compensated for your medical care as well as your emotional pain.

Dog bites by the numbers

• About 4.7 million dog bites occur across the United States every year
• About 800,000 dog bites will require medical treatment
• Male dogs are responsible for the vast majority of fatal dog attacks.
• About 92% of fatal dog attacks involved male dogs.
• Of all fatal dog attacks, 94% involve male dogs who were not neutered.
• About one-quarter of fatal dog attacks involve dogs who were chained.
• About 24% of fatal dog attacks involved dogs who were not restrained
• About 58% of human deaths as a result of a dog attack involved unrestrained dogs on their owners property.
• Nearly 71% of dog bites targeted the extremities, including hands, arms, legs and feet.
• About two-thirds of dog bites occurred on or near the victims property.

Dog bite victims

• More than half of all dog attacks involve children under the age of 12
• More than 80% of dog bites treated in emergency rooms across the country involved victims who were under the age of 15.
• The majority of dog bite fatalities 70% were children 10 years old and younger. of dog bites, according to the AHA.
• About 65% of dog bites on children occurred to the head and neck.
• A newborn who is unsupervised is about 370 times more likely than an adult to be killed by a dog.

Dog bite costs

• The number of dog bite victims requiring emergency hospitalization or hospital care has increased by over 85% in the last 16 years.
• The average cost a dog bite victim will pay as a result of hospitalization and ongoing medical treatment is more than $18,000.
• Dog bite victims who are hospitalised are more likely to be children under the age of 5 or senior citizens over the age of 65.
• Dogs bites are the fifth most common reason for why children are hospitalized.

About 30,000 people will have to get reconstructive surgery as a result of a dog bite, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Insurance companies will pay more than $1 billion in dog-bite claims every year across the United States.