Springtime is the season for dog bites

Spring is the time of year when dog bites tend to increase.  Kids are out playing more.  The days are longer.  People are spending a lot more time outdoors.  Dogs are coming out of a long winter in which they likely didn't get as much exercise as they should have and have some pent up energy. 

May 18-24 is Dog Bite Prevention week.  However, I wanted to post a release from the Mothers Against Dog Chaining Group about being aware of dogs in the spring months.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Warm Weather Brings Increase in Attacks on Children by Chained Dogs

Group warns against danger of chaining dogs, especially in springtime when attacks increase four-fold

Altoona, Penn.  March 24, 2008 -- Dogs that spend their lives on chains often become neurotic, aggressive and pathologically protective of the patch of dirt where they spend their lives.  Frustrated and unsocialized, chained dogs pose a year-round danger to unsuspecting children who approach these dogs. However, children are especially vulnerable in the springtime, according to Mothers Against Dog Chaining, an initiative of non-profit Dogs Deserve Better. The groups are dedicated to ending the suffering endured by chained dogs and to educating the public about the dangers chained dogs pose to people.

Since 2003, when the Mothers Against Dog Chaining began monitoring attacks nationwide that result in serious injury or death, it has traditionally seen an increase every spring when the warmer weather beckons more children outside and chained dogs can be especially frustrated after another lonely, agonizing winter.

In 2007, Mothers Against Dog Chaining logged 81 serious attacks on children by chained dogs. Thirty of these attacks -- more than one-third of the entire year's attacks -- occurred in April and May alone.

Of the 81 attacks logged in 2007, 8 resulted in the death of a child. "Our records include only those attacks serious enough to make the newspapers, and include only those we are able to locate," explains Tammy Grimes, founder of Mothers Against Dog Chaining and Dogs Deserve Better. "There are many more attacks that go unmentioned and unreported. And of course numerous adults also are seriously injured and killed every year by chained dogs."

The fact pattern leading up to the death in July 2007 of Tiffany Pauley, a 5-year-old Atlanta girl with Down Syndrome, is typical of many of these attacks: a child wanders into a neighbor's yard and wants to pet the chained dog, but the angry, perpetually chained animal attacks when it feels its space is threatened. The dog's caretakers then claim that there was nothing they could have done, unaware that the very method of confinement to which they subjected their dog led directly to the animal's aggression.

"Children are dying because of the misguided belief in certain segments of our society that it is appropriate to chain a dog to a tree and leave it there to pace the same patch of dirt and excrement for years on end," says Miranda Riane, the mother of an 8-year-old boy who was seriously mauled by a chained dog in November 2007. "My son did nothing but run past a dog that spent its life on a short chain. He paid the price for the owner having taken the negligent and 'easy way out' with regard to caring for her dog."

In part because of the public safety issues posed by perpetually chained dogs, a number of states, cities and counties have started passing laws addressing how long people can chain their dogs. California and Texas recently passed statewide laws that put specific time limits on chaining and a number of other states, including Pennsylvania and South Carolina, are currently considering similar legislation.

For more information and the latest updates on attacks, please visit www.mothersagainstdogchaining.org.

Comments

[s kennedy]

While I understand the sentiment that a dog on a chain 24/7 is certainly not recommended, I wonder how one would feel if the dog was NOT on the chain but for 45minutes and the same thing happened? Giving arbitrary number of hours that a dog should not be chained or tethered is extremely difficult to prove unless there is a witness that can say he/she saw it. And if that person is telling the truth, that's up to the judge. In cases about pitbulls I daresay it may not be the truth. The motivation behind it I understand--but the zealous pursuit of "not" chaining should be better put to simply EDUCATING about proper care of a dog. If a child wanders out to a dog on a chain, rope, etc, I blame the parent of the wandering child. Saying a child "ran past" a chained/or tethered dog means someone let him run past the dog. And if one knew that such restraint might not be the best, then one should be there to not allow the child even close to the area.

[Brent]

Sabrina,

I don't disagree with you. My personal preference would be to restrict tethering to include only "supervised" tethering. Leaving a dog on a chain to be a potential victim of a stray dog, or of harrassing individuals, or of kids "running past" is a recipe for it not being good for the dogs, or potentially young children.

I've always thought that "supervised" vs "unsupervised" was easier to enforce, and less arbitrary than a time period.

And yes, the parents also get equal (or great) responsibility put on them. I just don't understand why anyone would put their dog in a situation where failure was such an easy option.

[Caveat]

Great, more mad mothas...just what the world needed.

I was going to raise the same point as Sabrina - my dog, who I attached to a cable when he was in the yard for up to 15 minutes at a time, would certainly have reacted territorially to anyone infringing on his/our space.

Fences are obviously better, because a kid has to be pretty determined to climb one, but the same thing can happen.

Cool that they got their info from media reports, too.

In my life, I have NEVER known of a dog that spent its life chained to anything. I've known dogs that lived outside the house (which I never really got, btw) because they were happier there - with a good house, or access to a barn, etc.

I would not subject a dog to such a life and I can honestly say I don't know anyone who would.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I just don't think it's as common as these groups indicate. Maybe it's a local thing where they live or something.

I agree with you, Brent, that it is the unsupervised part that is a problem and that approaching it from that angle would make far more sense.

[MDog]

I think it depends where you live. Near my house, there is a dog that literally lives his life chained in front of a house, with a crappy plywood dog house and that's it. I drive past him all the time, sometimes just to see if he's out. He's been out during ice storms and during 90-degree days. The poor thing looks so broken down that I'd think he'd be a poster dog for tethering laws.
I think DDB is a great group and if they want to have an offshoot to raise awareness about dog chaining and dangers to children, more power to them.

[PAMM - People Against Mad Mothers]

Caveat, constant tethering is a real problem in poor areas. Fence is expensive and a chain cost $5. Plus, you want your alarm system held in place...It is a big problem in some areas - be thankful you don't live in one.

http://www.snkc.net/petassistanceprogram.html Shows you some of the story...dogs are routinely found with embedded collars after they've been aquired as puppies then immediately put out on a chain and forgotten once the cute wears off.

We already know that low income + high crime = DISASTER. The tethering/abuse thing is just a part of that equation.