title: The experience of dog bites: a survey of veterinary science and veterinary nursing students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the circumstances of dogs biting people in New Zealand.
  
  
  METHODS
  Veterinary science and veterinary nursing students enrolled at Massey University in 2003 completed a questionnaire detailing their lifetime experience of dog bites and their opinions of dog control legislation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 100%. There were 228 completed responses to the survey, and 87 (38%) respondents had been bitten by a dog. Most bites caused minor injury, but 17 (20%) required medical attention. Male respondents were more likely to have been bitten. The highest proportion of respondents (27; 31%) had been bitten while between 6 and 10 years of age, and the hand was the part of the body most often injured. Eighteen (21%) bites involved a stranger's dog, but most bites were by a dog known to the victim. Respondents from rural areas were three times more likely to have been bitten than city dwellers. The victim's home was the place where most (31; 36%) bites occurred. Male dogs were responsible for a larger proportion of bites (38; 44%) than females (24; 28%); respondents were unsure about the sex of the remainder of the dogs (25; 29%) that bit them. Protecting the home, play, accidents, rough handling and pain were identified as the common reasons for dogs to bite. Most (46; 52%) respondents did not believe legislation could have prevented their bite. Only four (5%) bites were reported to authorities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rural dwellers, people with more experience of dogs, children <11 years of age, and male respondents were bitten by dogs most often. Only legislation relating to the fencing of dog owners' properties may have prevented a reasonable proportion (25; 29%) of the bites reported here.
authors.affiliation: Ecology Group, Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
authors.forename: A A F
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Wake
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Stafford
authors.forename: E O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Minot
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001947:Breeding; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004285:Dogs; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D012306:Risk; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology