The number of Californians going to emergency rooms with serious dog bites is 70% higher than it was 20 years ago. Dog bite fatalities in the state rose 70% and hospitalizations for dog attacks doubled.
An article in the Sacramento Bee presents a thorough analysis of California’s skyrocketing dog bite problem: A Record Number of Californians Are Visiting Emergency Rooms for Dog Bites, by Phillip Reese (California Healthline, January 25, 2024, https://californiahealthline.org/multimedia/dog-bite-increase-data-california-emergency-room-er/).
The article quotes Attorney Kenneth M. Phillips:
Kenneth Phillips, one of the nation’s most prominent lawyers specializing in dog bite litigation, pinned much of the blame on pit bulls. . . . “Every study always comes up with the same conclusions, which is that this is the dog that does the most damage,” he said. Phillips [also] said sanimal shelters are increasingly under pressure to euthanize fewer dogs, meaning people wind up adopting more aggressive dogs without knowing it.
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