FATAL DOG ATTACKS: AN EIGHT-YEAR STUDY FROM 2009 TO 2016 IN ITALY

Domesticated animals, particularly dogs, have provided companionship, labor, recreation, and entertainment for humans. However, as the result of the most diverse causes, this interaction has not been free of conflicts. The alarming statistics reported around the world have shown that dog attacks today represent a health hazard where prevention strategies have not always been successful 1,2. Most of the dogs involved in these events are known to the victim or belong to him. The researchers identified a striking co-occurrence of multiple, controllable factors: no able- bodied person being present to intervene; the victim having no familiar relationship with the dog(s); the dog(s) owner failing to neuter/spay the dog(s); a victim’s compromised ability, whether based on age or physical condition, to manage their interactions with the dog(s); the owner keeping dog(s) as resident dog(s), rather than as family pet(s); the owner’s prior mismanagement of the dog(s); and the owner’s abuse or neglect of dog(s). Four or more of these factors were present in 80.5% of cases; breed was not one of those factors. This DBRF study was based primarily on media reports to identified the Italian number of fatal dog attacks, victims' sex and age and the breed of the dogs. From our study we found 19 DBRFs in Italy from 2009 to 2016 (2,37 cases for year); these data are sharply increased in relationship with previous study that describes 32 DWARFs between 1984 to 2009 3 with a frequency of 1,28 cases for year. We do not find a significantly difference on victim’s sex (8 women against 11 male). As previously described, we confirm that dogs are known to the victim or belong to him (14 cases); in 4 of the other cases where the victim did not know the dog, the aggression was carried out by mongrel dogs. As previously described, the victims are often over 65 years old (47,4%) or under 5 years old (42,1%). Finally we do not find a race dog that was more likely to injure a human rather another race. We know poorly on aggression causes, for example, if the death is caused by the human aggressor to the dog or if it is an unexplained event. Certainly, when DBRF occurs leads emotional implications in public opinion: it should promote the use of targeted studies, which still lack both internationally and, to a greater extent, national.