In 2011 almost 9000 people were hospitalized because of dog attacks (a 55% increase from 2001).

[baldguy]

20. False equivalency. You're much more likely to survive a dog bite than a gunshot wound.

Last edited Tue May 21, 2013, 04:42 PM - Edit history (1)

And your premise that there has been a dramatic increase in dog bites is false. According to your primary source: From 1979 through 1994, attacks by dogs resulted in 279 deaths of humans in the United States. That's an average of 18.6 per year. From 1995-1996, there were an additional 22. Before that, they simply weren't reported in the news media. Per the old adage, dog bites and dog bite deaths were not considered of interest.

Another issue is that "dog bites" are often misreported: http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dogbites/whatisadogbite/

“What is a dog bite?”: the question seems simple enough. Most of us would describe a dog bite as an incident where a dog deliberately inflicts an injury to a person. However, animal control and public health departments consider any incident in which a dog's tooth or nail breaks a person's skin - regardless of the circumstances or any characterization of the dog's intention - to be an animal exposure that merits their notice.

Based on this definition, animal control and public health departments classify all of the following types of animal exposures as dog bites:

• Nips from playful puppies.

• Scratches from a dog's nail.

• Scrapes from a dog's tooth.

• Accidental bites by dogs.

• Bites from injured or ill dogs receiving assistance or comfort from Good Samaritans (e.g. dogs hit by cars).

• Bites by working K-9 dogs delivered in the performance of police duties.

• Bites delivered to canine professionals such as veterinarians. These may have occurred under extreme duress, such as if the dog was in pain or otherwise unable to control its behavior. (e.g. a vet tech bitten while removing intubation tube from a dog's throat)

Also:

There is no national system in the United States for tallying reports of dog bites. The often-repeated estimates currently cited to argue that there is still a dog bite "epidemic" derive from two telephone surveys conducted to assess a wide variety of injury risk factors and injuries. The first survey was conducted in 1994. From among the 5,328 persons who responded to this survey, interviewers obtained reports of 186 dog bites participants reported had occurred within the 12 months prior to the interview. (Only 38 of the 186 bitten sought medical attention). The second survey, conducted between July 2001 and February 2003, returned a result showing that dog bites had declined overall, and had declined significantly among children.[iv]

And given that your info is based on nothing but news reports, it is incomplete, flawed & inaccurate. And the fact that you reference well-known propaganda sites in your OP casts your numbers into question also. It's surprising you didn't include the NRA in your gun statistics.


As to the issue of what can be done, It's not rocket science. Make the people who are supposed to be responsible act responsibly:

To reduce gun related injuries & deaths:
-Register all guns
-License all gun owners with national licensing standards
-Ban extended clips
-Ban assault weapons
-Every purchase requires a background check
-If you've been convicted of a felony you are prohibited from owning any gun
-Attempting to sell a gun to a gun to someone you know is prohibited should be a felony.

To reduce dog bite related injuries & deaths (surprisingly similar):
-License all dog owners & require training to get the license
-Register all dogs
-Require that the owner trains & socializes the dog to get a valid registration
-Require that the dog be spayed or neutered
-Breeders would be licensed differently, with more stringent requirements
-People would be prohibited from training privately owned dogs to attack humans
-Animal abuse should be treated the same as any assault on a human, with real jail time
-Abusers would be financially reasonable for rehabilitating the animal they abused
-Abusers would be prohibited from owning or supervising any animals.
-And if, after professional training & rehabilitation the animal still can't be rehabilitated, the abuser would be financially responsible for putting them down

in addition:
-Animal control officers should have all the same official powers as other police officers.
-Breed bans & breed specific legislation should be eliminated.