Hello from sunny Southwest Florida...

Hello all...my name is Marty Huxstep...I've been passionately involved with herpetology since the age of 5, venomous since the age of 13. I grew up in Palm Beach county, Florida, and spent the vast majority of my time in the woods and swamps exploring the local herpetofauna.

I graduated from the University of Florida with an Engineering Degree, however, while at the university, I was surrounded by many considered to be Academia's herpetological elite and I loved every minute of it !!

Currently, I maintain a collection comprised of:

7.13 Agkistrodon c. pictigaster
1.2 Crotalus v. cerberus
1.1 Crotalus l. lepidus
1.1 Bitis g. rhinoceros
1.2 Cryptelytrops insularis
1.2 Viridovipera stejnejeri
0.1 Bothriechis schlegelli
1.1 Boiruna maculata
2.2 Aspidelaps l. lubricus

Looking forward to some very interesting, informative and spirited discussions...
Marty

Hello Marty,

it is a pleasure to have you here with us...
welcome man!

are´ nt you the one, collecting data about bite incidents in the USA in order to compare it with bites of other animals (dogs, even Humans etc.)? please let us know, what you came up with! i would love to see your results...


we all hope, you have a good time here with us at VenomLand!

cheers
Mario

wlecome aboard Marty!

Yes, I was collecting data regarding bite incidence for dogs here in the US along with the costs of said bites. I was doing this in preparation for any impending anti-venomous legislation here in Florida, however, all seems quiet for now, but one can never be too prepared.

It is 3:30 AM here, I just finished playing an online poker tournament (I won !!), so, tomorrow I will post the paper that I wrote regarding the bite statistics as a reply to this thread...

Until then, goodnight...

Marty

Hi Marty,
nice to have you here.
I can´t wait to see the pokerfaces of your Cryptelytrops insularis.

Regards Jörg

A little explanation is in order...

First of all, I am not advocating any anti-dog legislation, I am merely pointing out that if we, as a society of civilized, intellectual beings, enact laws to protect ourselves, then we must do so based upon real, intrinsic dangers which have been studied, not those which are magnified and sensationalised by the media.

Second, there are orders of magnitude to be realized from the statistics below, i.e. the human sufferring and the inherent costs incurred as a result of bites by venomous snakes here in the US is on a nano-scale compared to that which is caused by dog bites.

Third, most of the venomous snake bites are not inflicted on keepers, hobbyists, zoo personnel but rather they are the result of John and Jane Q. Public being careless in the snake's natural habitat. In fact, very few of the fatalities are attributed to actual hobbyists or zoo personnel.

Fourth, I own 2 dogs, both Cockapoos and they are an integral part of my family !!

So, anyway, here it is, the hard-core statistics...

DOG BITE STATISTICS

THE NUMBER OF DOGS

There currently are 65 million dogs in the USA. (American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) 2003-2004 National Pet Owners Survey, cited by The Humane Society of the United States, U.S. Pet Ownership Statistics.)

THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS

A survey by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta ("CDC") concluded that dogs bite nearly 2% of the U.S. population -- more than 4.7 million people annually. (Sacks JJ, Kresnow M, Houston B. Dog bites: how big a problem? Injury Prev 1996;2:52-4.)

Almost 800,000 bites per year -- one out of every 6 -- are serious enough to require medical attention. (Weiss HB, Friedman D, Coben JH. Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments. JAMA 1998;279:51-53.)

Dog bites send nearly 368,000 victims to hospital emergency departments per year which equals 1,008 per day. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nonfatal Dog Bite–Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments — United States, 2001, MMWR 2003;52:605-610. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)

16,476 dog bites to persons aged 16 years or greater were work related in 2001. (Ibid., Nonfatal Dog Bite–Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments — United States, 2001, MMWR 2003;52:608.)

Every year 2,851 letter carriers are bitten. (US Postal Service.)

Getting bitten by a dog is the second most frequent cause of visits to emergency rooms caused by 9 activities common among children, namely playing baseball or softball, being around a dog, playing at the playground, riding in ATVs and mopeds, playing volleyball, inline skating, horseback riding, being in a baby walker, and riding skateboards. (Weiss HB, Friedman DI, Coben JH. "Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments," JAMA 1998;279:53, citing US Consumer Product Safety Commission, "Injuries associated with selected sports and recreational equipment treated in hospital emergency departments, calendar year 1994." Consumer Product Safety Review, Summer 1996;1:5. Also citing US Consumer Product Safety Commission, "Stair Steps and Baby Walkers Don't Mix." Washington D.C.:US Consumer Product Safety Commission;1992. Consumer Product Safety Alert No. 009207.)

An American has a one in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog each year. (CDC.)

THE NUMBER OF FATALITIES.

In the US from 1979 to 1996, 304 people in the US died from dog attacks, including 30 in California. The average number of deaths per year was 17.

Most of the deceased were children. ("Dog-Bite-Related Fatalities -- United States, 1995-1996," MMWR 46(21):463-467, 1997.) The chances that the victim of a fatal dog attack will be a burglar are one in 177; the odds that it will be a child are 7 out of 10.

However, fatalities are highly unusual. For every fatal dog bite in the United States, there are 230,000 bites that are not treated by a physician.

THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF DOG BITES

Dog attack victims in the US suffer over $1 billion in monetary losses every year. ("Take the bite out of man's best friend." State Farm Times, 1998;3(5):2.)

That $1 billion estimate might be low -- an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that, in 1995, State Farm paid $70 million on 11,000 claims and estimated that the total annual insurance cost for dog bites was about $2 billion. (Voelker R. "Dog bites recognized as public health problem." JAMA 1997;277:278,280.)

In 2003 dog bites accounted for about one quarter of all homeowner’s insurance liability claims, costing roughly $321.6 million, down slightly from about $345.5 the previous year. (Insurance Information Institute.)

In 2002 (latest data available) liability claims accounted for 6 percent of homeowners claim costs. (Ibid.)

The same year, the average dog bite claim cost insurers $16,600. (Ibid.)

In 1998, one in three homeowner insurance claims pertained to a dog bite but the average insurance payout was $12,000. ("Take the bite out of man's best friend." State Farm Times, 1998;3(5):2.)

Researchers from the CDC estimated that the direct medical costs of dog bites per year equal $164.9 million in the USA. (Quinlan KP, Sacks JJ. Hospitalizations for Dog Bite Injuries [letter] JAMA 1999; 281:232-233.)

DOG BITES ARE ON THE RISE

The number of dogs in the United States increased by only 2% between 1991 and 1998. (Wise JK & Yang JJ, "Dog and Cat Ownership, 1991-1998," JAMA 1994;204:1166-67.)

The number of bites, and the cost to insurance companies, however, rose significantly. In 1986, nonfatal dog bites resulted in an estimated 585,000 injuries that required medical attention or restricted activity. (Sosin DM, Sachs JJ, Sattin RW. Causes of nonfatal injuries in the United States, 1986. Accid. Anal. Prev. 1992;24:685-687.)

By 1994 an estimated 800,000 sought medical care for bites. (Weiss HB, Friedman D, Coben JH. Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments. JAMA 1998;279:51-53.)

This is a 36% increase in medically attended bites from 1986 to 1994.

The cost to insurance companies, measured only by homeowner claims (as opposed to health insurance claims and claims on other lines) grew significantly over the past decade, although it went down by about 4% between 2002 and 2003.

CHILDREN ARE THE MOST FREQUENT TARGETS

Studies of dog bite injuries have reported that:

The median age of patients bitten was 15 years, with children, especially boys aged 5 to 9 years, having the highest incidence rate. The odds that a bite victim will be a child are 3.2 to 1. (CDC.)

Children seen in emergency departments were more likely than older persons to be bitten on the face, neck, and head. 77% of injuries to children under 10 years old are facial. Severe injuries occur almost exclusively in children less than 10 years of age. The majority of dog attacks (61%) happen at home or in a familiar place. The vast majority of biting dogs (77%) belong to the victim's family or a friend. When a child less than 4 years old is the victim, the family dog was the attacker half the time (47%), and the attack almost always happened in the family home (90%). Dog bites rank second among other common causes of emergency-room injuries (table derived from Weiss HB, Friedman DI, Coben JH. "Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments," supra, p. 53):

Cause of injury……………………………Emergency room incidents annually
Baseball/softball…………………………………… 404,364
Dog bites…………………………………………… 333,687
Playground accidents…………………………….. 268,810
All-terrain vehicles, mopeds, etc…………………. 125,136
Volleyball………………………………………….. 97,523
Inline skating……………………………………… 75,994
Horseback riding…………………………………. 71,162
Baby walkers……………………………………… 28,000
Skateboards……………………………………….. 25,486

THE FACE IS THE MOST FREQUENT TARGET

Studies also have shown that:

Dog bites result in approximately 44,000 facial injuries in US hospitals each year. This represents between 0.5% and 1.5% of all emergency room visits.

The face is the most frequent target (77% of all injures). Mail carriers are an exception where 97% involve the lower extremities.

The central target area for the face includes the lips, nose, and cheeks.