MAF Successful Outcome: Dog bites are a significant cause of injury in children, and dogs that bite are often relinquished to shelters. This pilot project assessed veterinary and pediatric professionals’ knowledge, attitudes and practices in cases where children are bitten, so the information can be used to develop bite prevention curricula for medical and veterinary students. Researchers developed an online survey and collected baseline information from veterinary and pediatric professionals. Topics addressed ranged from what veterinary and pediatric professionals understand and believe about dog bites and their prevention to how bite cases are handled in practice (e.g., are bites consistently reported to animal control; are families provided with information about preventing future bites).
Survey results indicate that most physicians and veterinarians are not formally educated about the prevention of dog bites, even though nearly all of those surveyed rated this type of education as somewhat or very important. Only 21 percent of veterinarians and 5 percent of physicians reported that they acquired most of their knowledge about dog bites from medical or veterinary school, and 53 percent of veterinarians and 37 percent of physicians reported gaining such knowledge from practice or experience only. Only 15 percent of veterinarians and 4 percent of physicians indicated that they follow a formal protocol for educating families and dog owners on this topic.
A positive outcome of this study is that a large number of survey participants contacted the researcher to express support for the project’s goals. Several noted that simply completing the survey helped them to think through the issues and reflect on their own knowledge and practices. Data from the survey will now be used to create prevention curricula for medical and veterinary students. This information will also improve community outreach and educational programs aimed at preventing injuries to children as well as programs aimed at keeping dogs from being relinquished to shelters where they may be euthanized. We are grateful to Procter & Gamble for initiating and sponsoring this project.
