Incidence of canine bites in the metropolitan area of Naples from 2010 to 2016: prelimimary data

Canine aggression is the most common complaint in veterinary behavior referral practice [1] .The family members are the most common targets of the aggression [2]. Statistical studies of dog bites to humans indicate that in most cases, people are victims of their own dog or of a dog they know [3]. Furthermore, dogs presenting aggression are at a higher risk of being abandoned [4] or even euthanized because of the aggression [5]. In South Italy, in the metropolitan area of Naples, in the last few years the phenomenon of dog bites to people caused much concern. Indeed the ASL Na1 Hospital started, on behalf of CRIUV’s (Regional Centre of Veterinary Urban Hygiene) initiative, specific procedures to provide documentary evidence and to collect reports of dog bites. The epidemiological study is from 2010 until 2016. The research shown correlation between the dogs sample’s age, sex, breed and bite severity correlated with sex of bitten. The collection of anamnestic data comes from the registry of the bites used at ufficial controls of C.R.I.U.V. 487 biting dogs were sampled, of which 377 males and 110 females. The total number of dogs was divided in 274 half-breed and 213 of breed.The small dogs (<10 kg) were 86, the medium dogs (10- 20 kg) were 214 and the giants dogs were 187 (> 20 kg). There was no real effect of breed type on bites shown. There were 498 bitten people in total, including 270 males and 228 females. Analysis of the results shows that male dogs are more involved in episodes of bites. Moreover, in relation to the size, medium and large dogs are responsible for the greatest number of bites. These data show a greater difficulty in the containment of medium and large dogs by the owner. Male dogs show greater tendency to bite than females. This preliminary study will be completed with the analysis of the following parameters: age and severity of the victim's bite and age, origin and training of the dogs.The study, moreoveor, will investigate the training method used by owners could be related to the total number of potentially undesirable behaviors shown by the dogs and the correlation of geolocation with urban areas at risk human delinquency. [1]Bamberger M, Houpt KA. Signalment factors, comorbidity, and trends in behavior diagnoses in dogs: 1,644 cases (1991-2001). J Am Vet Med Assoc. Nov 15;229(10) 2006 [2]Fatjo J, Amat M, Mariotti VM, de la Torre JLR, Manteca X (2007): Analysis of 1040 cases of canine aggression in a referral practice in Spain. Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research 2, 158–165. [3] B Rosado, S García-Belenguer, M León, J Palacio A comprehensive study of dog bites in Spain, 1995–2004 - The Veterinary Journal, Volume 179, Issue 3, March 2009, Pages 383-391 2009[4] Salman M.D. , Hutchison J , Ruch-Gallie R., Kogan L. , John C. New Jr. , Phillip H. Kass & Janet M. Scarlett Behavioral Reasons for Relinquishment of Dogs and Cats to 12 Shelters Journal Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 3, 2 2000. [5] Overall KL Time to talk about behavioural problems. Vet Rec. Mar 2;172(9):233-4. 2013.