Rising fatalities, injuries, and NHS costs: dog bites as a public health problem

Last year saw a sudden jump in the number of people in England and Wales dying because of dog bite injuries. While a typical year records three fatal attacks,1 the death toll in 2022 totalled 10.234 Four of the victims were children.Hospital episode data for England5 also reveal an upward trend in the number of attendances for dog related injuries in the past 15 years. There has been an 88% increase in attendances, from 4699 in 2007 to 8819 in 2021-22. Growing concern about dog related attacks have prompted media reports across the UK.67Behind these statistics lie sizable welfare costs, both in the toll of psychological and physical injury to human victims and their families—including life changing disfigurement—and also in terms of the animal welfare burden. Many of the dogs involved in attacks are subsequently euthanised.There are also financial costs to the NHS. Researchers at the University of Liverpool with…
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