Introduction: Karen Delise
An examination of the last 150 years of severe dog attacks as reported in these newspapers reveals a dramatic shift in the style of reporting and the type of information found describing a dog attack. For those interested in understanding canine behavior and the forces which contribute to severe attacks, modern-day media sources are sorely lacking in vital information surrounding these events. For this reason, in more modern cases, I have, whenever possible, consulted and interviewed law enforcement investigators, animal control personnel and coroners in an effort to obtain for each incident as much relevant information as possible, about the dog, the victim and the owner. Photographs of the dogs involved and autopsy and bite reports are additional important sources of information I have used to present and discuss the cases which have occurred in recent decades.
Seeking out alternate sources of information due to the scarcity of details in modernday media sources has demonstrated that the very absence of these details has led to a general hysteria about certain breeds, along with wildly inaccurate conclusions about the reasons and causes for canine aggression. Critical events leading some dogs to extreme aggression—from two dogs suffering the agony of ingesting rat poison to dogs near death from malnutrition and dehydration—are shockingly absent in modern media accounts of severe or fatal dog attacks.
Only about half a dozen studies have been conducted on fatal dog attacks in the United States, and these were all conducted in a 25-year period (1977–2001). Unfortunately, most of these studies focused on only two or three aspects surrounding fatal attacks, with the breed of dog being the single most studied aspect. Besides the small database (less than 240 cases), despite the limited time period (a single era when certain breeds were exceedingly popular), despite the use of media reports for identification of breeds, and despite the failure to address the relevant human and canine behaviors which preceded an attack, these studies have often been put forth as the “science of fatal dog attacks.” But the severe limitations and scope of these studies do not allow for their use in any rational or practical approach to the understanding of dog attacks. The “scientific method” cannot be applied to the study of dog bites, as severe and fatal dog attacks on humans occur in the most uncontrolled and unscientific settings and involve dozens of variables and circumstances which cannot be measured accurately. The best that can be done is to study dog attacks empirically, through practical observation of every possible aspect surrounding these events. In furtherance of these goals the author has researched and conducted investigations on the largest number of dog attacks, over the greatest period of time, along with every available detail relevant to these incidents.
This has resulted in a database of over 750 cases of fatal dog attacks and over 1000 cases of severe attacks in the United States, from 1850 to the present. Empirical analysis of this large amount of data has revealed a pattern of circumstance and behavior seen consistently over the last century which offers tremendous insight into the reasons and causes of dog attacks. The recent failure, by both experts and laymen, to take this type of comprehensive and practical approach to the problem of dog attacks has allowed for meaningless statistics and pseudoscience to replace rational thought and basic, common-sense knowledge of the canine and human behaviors which have long been recognized to contribute to dog attacks.
Whether our goal is community safety, understanding canine behavior, furtherance of humane treatment towards dogs, or the advancement of the human-dog bond, it is critical that we examine all the details available about dog attacks. However, perhaps as important is that we recognize that often times the information disseminated about dog attacks is presented by individuals or organizations whose agenda is the furtherance of goals unrelated to the human-dog bond.
This examination of actual cases of severe dog attacks during the last 150 years—the circumstances, the individual dogs involved, the victims and our interpretations of these events—is presented in an attempt to address these concerns and offer a balanced perspective on the behavior of dogs and the critical role humans play in the management and treatment of our canine companions. Only by stepping back from the swirl of present-day hysteria surrounding isolated cases of severe canine aggression and examining the problem from a broader and more objective perspective can we hope to understand how some humans come to be victims of a dog attack.
This is a large file, complete book written by Karen Delise.
