The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Current affairsNews

Dog attacks three times higher in deprived areas of England

Dog attacks three times higher in deprived areas of England
29 April 2014
Aastha Gill
Avatar
Aastha Gill
29 April 2014

The number of dog bites leading to hospital admission is three times higher among people living in the deprived areas study from Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has revealed.

According to the report, there were 6,743 hospital admissions specifically by dog attacks, a 5.8% increase from the 6,372 admissions last year.

The figures showed out of total 9,710 hospital admissions caused by dogs and other animals, 1,240 admissions were from most deprived areas of the country.

Merseyside recorded the highest number of incidents, with 24 out of 100,000 people admitted to hospital for dog strikes. Followed by Durham, Darlington and Tees and West Yorkshire with 22.8 and 21.7 per 100,000 injured respectively.

Kent and Medway had the lowest numbers with 5.3 per 100,000 people, followed by Surrey, Sussex and London.

Dr Simon Harding, a lecturer in criminology at the University of Middlesex and author of Unleashed: The Phenomena of Status Dogs and Weapons Dogs, said: “Deprived areas are often more populous with larger families, more children, more pets and more people living in closer proximity to each other and dogs. Also dogs tend to be exercised in public, rather than in gardens or remote fields. At the same time people in poorer areas use dogs for protection, instead of alarms or house insurance and there is an underlying trend towards the use of aggressive Pit Bull-type breeds as weapon or status dogs.”

The study also showed hospital admissions were highest during the summer months and main injuries from dogs were open wounds of wrists, hands, head and forearm.

HSCIC said majority of victims were young children under nine with head injuries followed by teenagers and adults with hand and wrist wounds.

Dr Harding said: “Plastic surgery was the most common treatment for all age groups.”

Luciana Berger, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, who has been campaigning for tighter controls on dangerous dogs after a four-year-old was killed by a pit bull terrier in 2009, said “the figures were alarming and showed the threat dangerous dogs pose.”

The MP has urged the government to “focus on prevention” and ensure that tragedies such as the death of four-year-old John Paul Massey are not repeated.

Despite calls for reform, the secretary of the Kennel Club, Caroline Kisko, has declined the appeal stating “further dog bans were not the answer and that better education of children was the way forward.”

Caroline said: “There is a danger of classifying dogs like pit bulls as the devil dogs. This is such a dangerous concept as it says to people that all the other types of dogs are safe, which is clearly untrue. All dogs can cause injury, just like we can, but it’s not to do with their breed.”

The HSCIC data also looks at injuries from other animal, such as horses, foxes, and cats. The numbers show there were 2,970 admissions for such cases, up from 2,700 from previous year. With Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly reporting the highest rate.

Aastha Gill
Photo: Aastha Gill

Related Itemsdog attacks

More in Current Affairs

Changes to expect during menopause

The editorial unit
Read More

Nek brings Italian pop rock to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire

The editorial unit
Read More

Why Equity Linked Savings Schemes is a preferred tax saving?

The editorial unit
Read More

How the world’s top designers would rebrand political parties

The editorial unit
Read More

Royal baby furore: Proof that the British monarchy is still popular?

Eoin O’Sullivan-Harris
Read More

World Mental Health Day 2018: Raising awareness and combating stigma

The editorial unit
Read More

Seven political personalities you should know about

The editorial unit
Read More

Donald Trump: An enemy of the arts?

The editorial unit
Read More

Trump’s fortune: Where did the money come from?

The editorial unit
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Smith & Burrows – Only Smith & Burrows Is Good Enough
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Celebrate Margarita Day at home with these simple yet sophisticated cocktails
    Food & Drinks
  • Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – Hunter and the Dog Star
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Wrong Turn
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Creation Stories
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Minari
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Gatsby at Cadogan Hall: An interview with Jodie Steele and Ross William Wild
    Theatre
  • The United States Vs Billie Holiday
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Berlinale 2021: Top picks to look out for in the festival’s 71st year
    Berlinale
  • Minari
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • West End Musical Drive In Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Hymn at the Almeida Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Bradford – Bright Hours
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Pelé
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

South Korean PM Chung Hong-Won resigns over ferry disaster
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to be added in world heritage in danger list warns UNESCO