Dog bites dog: The use of news media articles to investigate dog-on-dog aggression

Abstract

Dog-on-dog aggression is a common behavioral problem and has the potential to result in dog and/or human injury, the need for veterinary treatment and financial and legal repercussions. Despite this, few studies of dog-on-dog aggression have occurred. News reports of dog-on-dog aggression provide a method of understanding the demographics of these attacks. National and local news articles between September 2016 and February 2020 were identified through Yahoo and Google news. Information was retrieved including victim/attacker dog information (age, breed, size, sex, injury, veterinary treatment, on/off a lead, with/without the owner/walker), situation, intervention, owner injury, and outcome. In the majority of these attacks, one dog initiated the attack and this dog tended to be a medium-sized breed and off-leash. The most reported attacking breed was the Staffordshire bull terrier. The victim tended to be a small-sized dog, and these attacks often had adverse psychological and physical effects. Costs as a result of the attack ranged from £75 to £9,000 (∼$98-11,800 USD). The owner intervened in just under half of cases and often suffered injuries defending their dog. Based on the results of this study, we advise that further guidance on dog bite prevention, management, and education is needed for all dog owners, in particular those who own dogs with a history of aggression. The limitations of using news articles are discussed, and further research on dog-on-dog bite incidents via combining the data from news reports with other information resources is suggested to be beneficial.