'When the dog bites': What can we learn about health geography from newspaper coverage in a 'model city' for dog-bite prevention?

US Adults' Perceptions of Dog Breed Bans, Dog Aggression and Breed-Specific Laws

Dog aggression directed towards people is a leading reason for relinquishment and a major public health hazard. In response to the threat of dog aggression and dog bites, breed-specific legislation has been introduced in numerous cities within the United States and countries throughout the world. There is limited evidence, however, to suggest that such laws are effective. This study explored, through an online, anonymous, cross-sectional survey, US residents' views about the bite risk of common dog breeds, breed-specific legislation, and alternative options for improved public safety. A total of 586 surveys were completed by adult US residents, 48.8% female and 48.6% male. Approximately half of the respondents reported feeling that dog bites are a serious public health issue. Although 70% of respondents were opposed to a breed ban, only 56% felt that banning specific breeds creates an animal welfare issue. Females were less likely to support a ban or agree that specific breed bans improve public safety. When participants were asked to indicate their support of several alternatives to breed-specific legislation, the most frequently endorsed options included public education about animal welfare and animal behavior, and stricter leash laws. Further research pertaining to the most effective public education dissemination methods is warranted.

Débats autour des races canines et de la santé publique à Montréal et au Québec (2016-2019)

OBJECTIVES

We examine the public policies that have been formulated to reduce the incidence of dog bites. We do so to encourage the adoption of policies aligned with One Health promotion.

METHODS

This case-study research involved an ethnographic approach. Our qualitative analysis derived from participant observation, policy documents, media coverage, and interviews with stakeholders in Montreal (Quebec).

RESULTS

Following on from a human fatality due to dog bite injuries, the City of Montreal decided to ban certain types of dogs based on their 'breed.' In the ensuing discussions, the 'Calgary model' emerged as an alternative to breed-specific legislation. These discussions led to a change in policy direction for Montreal, and for Quebec as a whole. Furthermore, we discerned marked improvements with respect to intersectoral coordination in the wake of this controversy.

CONCLUSION

'Policy mobilities' offer a useful conceptual apparatus for understanding how public policies for dog bite prevention are polarized around controversial proposals, to the detriment of discussions that focus on policy implementation.

Representations of Free-Living and Unrestrained Dogs as an Emerging Public Health Issue in Australian Newspapers

That dogs can live and breed as free-living animals contributes to public health risks including zoonotic transmission, dog bites, and compromising people’s sense of safety in public spaces. In Australia, free-living dog populations are comprised of domestic dogs, dingoes, and dog–dingo hybrids, and are described using various terms (for example, stray or community), depending on social or geographic context. Urban expansion and regional migration mean that risks associated with contact between humans and free-living dogs are increasing. Public health authorities, local governments, and community organisations have called for transdisciplinary partnerships to address dog-related health risks with a sustainable long-term approach. Values pluralism and a lack of sustained community engagement in affected areas have meant that the outcome of such efforts to date has been mixed. To identify ideas in public circulation about the impact of unrestrained and free-living dogs on human health and well-being, and understand the framework through which these animals are problematised and solutions are proposed in public discourse, we systematically examined coverage of these issues in print media. Our analyses indicate that reporting in Australian newspapers tends to frame the public health impacts of free-living dogs as problems of public order requiring direct government action to re-establish control. The public health impacts of free-living dog populations in Australia have complex causes that intersect at the nexus between human and canine behaviour, agricultural and land management practices, local bylaws, and efforts to conserve ecological systems. Placing responsibility on governments limits opportunities for greater community involvement in developing integrated One Health approaches. Better-quality evidence of the impacts of dog populations on community health and well-being, and broad community support are needed to reshape public debates on animal control, which, ultimately, will promote more effective approaches to mitigate dog-related public health risks at the human–animal–environment interface.

Systematic Review: Comparison of the Main Variables of Interest in Publications of Canine Bite Accidents in the Written Press, Gray and Scientific Literature in Chile and Spain, between the Years 2013 and 2017

Simple Summary

Dog bites are a major public health problem throughout the world. The different types of information sources that exist in relation to this issue are influencing decision making to control and prevent these incidents. For this reason, the present study aims to compare the main variables of interest in the publications of dog bite accidents in the written and grey press and scientific literature in Chile and Spain, between 2013 and 2017. The results showed that sensationalist variables in dog bite articles are reported more frequently in the press literature compared to the indexed and grey literature. Examples of these variables are involvement of potentially dangerous breeds, articles with death reports, among others. In conclusion, an improvement in the quality of the information that reaches the population about dog bites could be achieved through better and more fluid communication between scientists and journalists who publish on this topic.

Abstract

Dog bites are a major public health problem, with consequences such as physical injury, psychological trauma, transmission of zoonoses, infections, and economic costs. For this reason, it is necessary to develop preventive programs, which require quality information to support the authorities’ decision-making and to raise public awareness about the application of the proposed measures. The objective of this review was to analyze the press, indexed and gray dog bite literature published during the 2013–2017 period. During that period, 385 articles from three sources of information were analyzed: Press literature, scientific literature, and gray literature. Of these, the greatest amount of information corresponding to the context and the aggressor animal was found in the press literature, where it was recorded that the greatest number of records reported in the Chilean articles were caused by potentially dangerous breeds (87.50%), having significant differences with the gray literature (p = 0.030), and in Spain, the greatest number of attacks was also made by potentially dangerous dogs 91.30% (21/23), statistically significant differences with the gray literature (p = 0.002) and with the indexed (p < 0.001). In the case of the scientific and gray literature, the greatest amount of information was found about the victim of the attack and the treatments applied to them. In these cases, the highest percentage of victims included in the reports contained both sexes for the two literatures (44.62% and 87.71%, respectively). Regarding the treatment applied, in the scientific literature in most of the reports, the patients received washings, rabies vaccine, and tetanus vaccine (46.26%) and presented significant differences in Chile with the information contained in the gray literature (p = 0.023), in Spain with the gray (p = 0.017) and with the press (p = 0.023). In conclusion, the press literature differs in multiple variables with the information reported in the scientific literature and, in some cases, with the gray literature. The reason why the material that is being distributed to the population would not coincide in multiple relevant variables in other literature and the representative reality of the problem is the basis for this topic.

Public perception of urban companion animals during the COVID-19 outbreak in China

This paper responds to the increasing concern regarding the role of non-human life in shaping urban space by exploring the public perception of urban companion animals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China. We argue that the public's perception of urban companion animals during emerging infectious disease outbreaks is related to medical and life science issues and reflects the political, economic, and emotional struggles involved in human-animal multispecies cohabitation. We find that the public has mainly followed and reconstructed medical discourses about the risk of companion animal-to-human transmission and discussed sustainable ethical animal practices in urban public health emergency management during the COVID-19 outbreak. Concerns regarding the risk of companion animal-related infection reflect the increasing prominence of more-than-human families, the pet industry, and multispecies leisure conflicts in public space in Chinese cities. The public's attention to animal ethics has prompted Chinese policy makers to adopt a more morally acceptable model for urban public health emergency management that can be sustained and supported by responsible non-governmental organizations and ethical urban residents.

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Public's perception reflects the struggles involved in human-animal multispecies cohabitation.

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The public is concerned and fear the risk of companion animal-to-human transmission.

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Such concern and fear caused companion animals to experience tragic and caring experiences during the epidemic.

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The morally acceptable model of urban public health emergency management is prompted by the public's attention.

Understanding Dog Bites: The Important Role of Human Behavior

This research contributes to extant knowledge about dog bites by using police department bite incident data to explore three sets of potential correlates of bites: traits of the victim, traits of the dog including the circumstances surrounding the bite, and traits of the neighborhood in which the bite occurred. It employs data on 478 bites, over a period of 8 years, in an urban setting that includes significant numbers of roaming dogs (both feral and owned), and incorporates a number of variables not included in past research. While environmental variables such as structural abandonment contribute to dog bite risk human error is most commonly at fault.