2021-02-07 23:01:00
Every year in France, thousands of people are bitten by dogs. The consequences of these bites can be physical, infectious, psychological, leading to direct or indirect costs for society.
ANSES was contacted by the Ministry of Agriculture to better understand the dangerousness of dogs and assess the relevance of categorization measures by breed.
Better protection from the risk of bite requires combining several means of prevention
ANSES, which examined all the factors to be considered to assess the risk of bite, concludes that this risk cannot be reliably based on the breed or racial type of the dog alone.
The analysis of risk factors shows that they concern both the animal and its interactions with humans : those who raise him, those he meets occasionally, as well as the circumstances of these encounters. Therefore, the Prevention necessarily involves several levers of action, which involve all the stakeholders concerned.
For the Agency, prevention of the risk of bite primarily involves awareness children and adults alike, dog owners or not:
to the well-being, needs and expectations of a dog as well as the recognition of stress signals in animals : licking of the nose, repetitive yawning, looking away, etc. ; to the fact that all dogs can bite, whatever their size or breed, and that therefore never leave a child alone with a dog without the active supervision of an adult.
For the dog ownersthe first vaccination visit or the annual check-up at the veterinarian must be the opportunity to raise awareness of risk factors bite and insist on the importance of education of the animal and positive reinforcement, that is to say modes of education of the animal favoring rewards during learning.
Furthermore, ANSES emphasizes that it is the responsibility of dog breeders like owners to make coincide the dog’s needs linked to its size, its breed, its character… with living conditions that he may have: small apartment or large house, possibility of regular outings or not, presence of young children, etc.
In order to better understand and prevent the circumstances of bites, which are currently insufficiently reported (see box), ANSES is proposing the creation of a bite observatory which would make it possible to enrich the available data, to fuel research work but also to formulate more targeted advice adapted to the existing risk. Given the widespread presence of dogs in society, the Agency is in favor of this observatory being powered by professionals in the sector, like veterinarians and breeders, but also through citizen contributions.
There exists very little data regarding dog bites in France. According to a 2007 report, around 10,000 bites per year were subject to health surveillance. These figures only represent bites declared to the Departmental Directorate in charge of population protection and are certainly lower than reality. Professionals (doctors, firefighters, veterinarians, hospital staff, etc.) and individuals must report any dog bite to their town hall.
Behavioral assessment, a means of prevention to be strengthened
Finally, the Agency considers that the role of behavioral assessment by veterinarians, in the event of a bite or at the specific request of the mayor or prefect, must be strengthenedby increasing the number of veterinarians registered to carry out these assessments and by harmonizing the training, practices and tools used. Indeed, the behavioral assessment of dogs constitutes a privileged tool to better understand the risks for a dog of biting.
Currently there are three patterns requiring such an assessment to be carried out: belonging to a race or racial type defined in the regulations, the bite of a person, and the express request of the mayor or prefect. The Agency considers that theanalysis of the observatory results will allow us to consider other situations to carry out behavioral assessments in order to identify risky situations before they materialize.
Based on its expertise, ANSES emphasizes, however, that breed alone does not predict the aggressiveness of a dog. To date, in fact, no scientific study highlights a higher risk of bite by so-called “dangerous” category 1 and 2 dogs. The United States, the Netherlands and Italy, which had adopted similar categorizations, abandoned them after noting their ineffectiveness in reducing the risk of bites.
The dangerousness of an animal must therefore be assessed individually.
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