Esther Gleason

4/30/15
Outdoor Living

Beware of Dog
Is your dog going to kill you? Most of us know that spine chilling
horror of hearing a coyote howl while you're strolling companionless at
night. We know to be afraid of wolves and coyotes because they are
malignant, but attacks are rare. We dont really think about how scary
domesticated dogs can actually be. Afterall, they are the descendants of
wolves. Their fangs can leave fierce lacerations in their prey, dogs thirst for
blood: they crave to slaughter. Their diet also seems to go overlooked; they
are carnivores. Were all afraid of wolves and coyotes, but are
domesticated dogs the ones that we should really be looking out for?
Wolves are very chilling, but its improbable that you will even witness
one. In North America wolf attacks are very scarce; there were 3 fatal
attacks from 1952-2002. Most wolf attacks are from rabid wolves. They
tend to evade humans, notably in North America. Its understandable to be
afraid of wolves. They have exceptionally razor-sharp teeth and immensely
forceful jaws. They would be able to slaughter you without breaking a
sweat. When you look at the statistics, they wont hurt you.

Coyotes arent as threatening as wolves, but its far more feasible that
you'd encounter one. There were 160 coyote attacks in the last 30 years,
on average thats 5.3 attacks per year. Only two of those attacks were fatal.
Urban Coyotes are becoming more used to humans, and are no longer as
apprehensive towards us. This is mostly because humans are providing
them with food. This leads to coyotes attacking us because they want food.
Coyotes may chase people, threaten people walking their dogs, and stalk
children.
Finally, the domesticated dog. In 2000 alone there were at least 26
fatal dog attacks. Most data is not correct because the media only reports
74% of dog attacks. One study has shown that there have been 327 fatal
dog attacks reported over a 20 year period, on average thats 16.35 people
a year. Those fatalities are only caused exclusively by the dog, no
secondary cause of death. Another study says that there were 504 people
who died over 27 years, thats about 18.67 a year. Some breeds are more
dangerous than others. Pitbulls and Rottweilers cause 74% of deaths by
dogs. Studies have shown that dogs that are bred to fight are more likely to
kill someone. Children are more at risk because typically the dog can over
power them. 55.6% of people who are killed by dogs are 10 and younger.

Alaska has the most amount of fatalities due to dogs, 11.83 per 10 million
population.
Overall, dogs are more deadly than wolves and coyotes. So instead
of worrying about that howling in the distance, worry about the killer
sleeping at the end of your bed.