INTRODUCTION: Plastic surgeons bear the burden of treating serious injuries resulting from pet and stray animal attacks. The largest subset of these incidents occurs as a result of a known canine (dog). The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize data regarding breed implicated in the literature as well as the effectiveness of breed specific legislation in the United States.
METHODS: Peer-reviewed articles were identified using PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE, Scopus, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Library by two authors (C.M.B and K.M.H.) using the search term “dog bite.” Inclusion criteria included articles with >1 patient reported, report population in the United States and breed identification attempted when trauma was sustained from a dog bite. Data regarding breed and method of breed identification were extracted and tabulated.
RESULTS: Prior to 1980, the majority of dog bites reported in peer-reviewed literature were attributed to the German Shepherd breed (68.4%). From 1981–2000 German Shepherds still accounted for the largest minority of breeds identified (20.1%), with mixed breeds (19.6%) and Pit Bull type breeds (14.1%) accounting for the 2nd and 3rd largest minorities. Since 2001, Pit Bull type breeds have accounted for the largest subset of dog bites reported in the medical literature (37.5%), with mixed breeds (13.3%) and German Shepherds (7.1%) accounting for the 2nd and 3rd largest minority groups during this same time period. In addition to these findings, we evaluated the effectiveness of breed specific legislation in Denver, CO, the largest jurisdiction in the United States with a pit bull ban in place. Since 2001, 5.7% of bites in Denver, CO were attributed to Pit Bull type breeds compared to 54.4% in the remainder of the United States.
CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review devoted to breed responsible for severe dog bites in the peer-reviewed literature, as well as the first report evaluating breed specific legislation in the United States. Our data suggest that breed specific legislation may be effective in reducing the incidence of dog bites attributed to breeds that are regulated. Significant effort has been devoted to determining how best to minimize dog bites severe enough to require medical attention, and now, with this new information, Plastic Surgeons may be poised to lead the campaign on dog bite prevention.