Florida Dog Bite Statistics Reveal Most At Risk Of Injury
Many residents of Venice and Sarasota have opened their homes and lives to dogs as pets. Florida’s warm weather makes the state a great place for people to exercise their dogs and take out for walks or other outdoor activities throughout the year. However, this also means that with so many Floridians owning dogs, taking them outdoors, or even entertaining visitors in their homes, accidents can happen.
Excepting home invasion scenarios where criminal activity is at play, Florida law generally sides with injured victims in the case of dog bites. Whether the bite was intentional or not, if a dog bites someone, then the dog’s owner is legally responsible for that injury, regardless of whether they knew about the dog’s temperament or not.
However, when data is collected about dog bites, several recurring factors and patterns begin to emerge. Here are some of the things that have arisen out of national studies conducted on dog bites.
Summer Weekends Are The Riskiest Period
Studies, where the time of a dog bite accident could be ascertained, showed that Saturday and Sunday were the days of the week when a dog bites most frequently occurred. This isn’t a major surprise to anyone since weekends are traditionally “off days” for most working people. This is when they’ll indulge in recreational activities, take their dogs out, or receive visitors to their homes with dogs present.
In terms of seasonal activity, the months of May through August are when the greatest number of dog bites occur. July is the peak month of the year, with the highest average for people getting bitten by dogs. In this regard, Florida is more of an outlier, as more northern parts of the country have seasonal restrictions like winter weather, reducing the risk of dog bits as people in those climates bring out their dogs less frequently.
Male ‘White Children Are The Most Common Victims
When it comes to narrowing down the demographics of dog bite victims, certain characteristics emerge. Over 52% of dog bite victims tend to be male. Regarding ethnicity, over 71% of dog bite victims tend to be Caucasian, and of those victims, the age range with the highest percentage of bites is those boys under the age of 10.
Again, some of this isn’t a surprise. Children generally tend to have less awareness of dog behavior. They may unknowingly provoke a dog into retaliation when they don’t realize they are being too rough and ignore the dog’s warnings to retreat. This averages out to just a little over 1 in every 1000 people potentially getting bitten by a dog.
Injury Location
The three most common areas for injury in the event of a dog attack are:
Hand
By far, the most common point of injury is the hand, which makes sense since many attacks occur when people attempt to pet dogs without heeding the warning signs that the dog feels threatened or provoked.
Face
Surprisingly, the face is the second most common area of attack after the hand. This is likely because a dog’s hunting instinct recognizes the face as a vulnerable area since it houses crucial sensory organs like eyes and ears, the impairment of which affect performance.
Lower Arm
The third most common area of injury is the lower arm, which is natural since, being attached to the hand, many people raise their arms as a defensive measure. If the dog continues to attack, the lower arm is a likely area of injury.
Take Proper Legal Action
If a dog bites you or someone you know, talk to a dog bite attorney. A dog owner is always legally responsible for a dog’s actions and the injuries that may result from that dog’s actions.
