Dog bite statistics ::

Each day nearly 1,000 U.S. citizens require emergency care treatment for serious dog bite injuries.1 Annually, about 12,480 citizens are hospitalized due to dog bite injuries.2 The below statistics and studies examine injury occurrence and the breeds of dogs most likely to inflict severe and fatal injuries. Reviewing Quick Statistics and recent Dog Bite Studies are good starting points. Also see our report that reviews Level 1 trauma center studies from 2011 to present.

Quick statistics

A collection of national nonfatal and fatal dog bite statistics and study-specific statistics. Data include the number of people injured and killed by dogs each year, hospitalization rates for dog bite injuries, costs associated with dog bite injuries, single and combined year dog bite-related fatality statistics, as well as national and worldwide breed-specific law statistics. Sources of these statistics are government bodies, medical researchers, insurance and nonprofit organizations.

Areas within Quick Statistics are reviewed and updated each year. The most recent dog bite study based on federal data was published in 2020 (See all Government dog bite studies).

Dog bite studies

View literature reviews of retrospective medical studies (2011 to present) and (2009 to 2016) examining dog bite injuries in Level 1 trauma centers across major U.S. geographical regions. Current dog bite fatality studies and studies examining the effectiveness of breed-specific legislation are listed as well. Most studies listed on this page are open access. Sources are peer reviewed medical science journals, studies by government bodies and nonprofit organizations.

For a full listing of dog bite injury and related studies divided into multiple categories, please visit our Studies Index, which includes many more open access dog bite-related studies.

Dog bite fatalities

A growing collection of U.S. dog bite fatalities separated by year and their related statistics starting in 2005 to present day recorded by DogsBite.org. Each annual report contains an analysis of that year, including breeds of dogs involved in fatal dog attacks, ages and gender of victims, risk and relationship factors, such as family dogs versus non-family dogs, attacks by chained dogs, attacks involving four or more dogs (pack attack), dog ownership information and state level information.

Dog bite fatality citations

A collection of news reports, separated by year, that are gathered in real time during and after a deadly dog mauling by DogsBite.org. For instance, in 2019, we collected over 1,025 news reports from local, regional and national news sources pertaining to all dog bite fatality victims for that year. We also collect photographs, videos, audio dispatch logs, police reports, legal documents and legislative materials. Learn about the 33 parameters we collect in our data collection method.

From 2013 forward, each year contains our annual Breed Identification report that contains images of the involved dogs from news reports, law enforcement and social media websites.

Dog bite studies index

Our studies index contains U.S. dog bite injury studies separated into categories, including: Nonfatal Dog Bite Injury Studies, Fatal Dog Bite Injury Studies, Government Dog Bite Studies, Case Reports & Presentations, Breed-Specific Legislation Studies, Aggressive Dog Behavior Studies, Pit Bull Ownership Studies and more. Some are cross-listed in more than one category and many are open access. Studies marked by an "abstract" label require payment to read in full.

Studies in our index include all studies used in our literature reviews, such as our review of Level 1 trauma center dog bite studies (2011 to present) and our similar 2016 special report.
Citations
  1. The Changing Epidemiology of Dog Bite Injuries in the United States, 2005–2018, by Tuckel PS, Milczarski W, Injury Epidemiology, 01 November 2020.
  2. U.S. Inpatient Stays for Dog Bite Injuries (1993 to 2014) and U.S. ED Visits for Dog Bite Injuries (2006 to 2014). HCUP Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS). Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project HCUP. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Accessed: December 13, 2018)