In the fall of 2020, American doctors reported in the “Journal of Pediatrics” of an increase in dog bites. In Austria, too, the Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit (KFV) recorded an increase, albeit only a minor one. Every year 600 to 800 children in Austria are treated in hospital for dog bites, especially small children are at risk of being bitten. Most accidents of this type would be recorded in children between the ages of 5 and 9, data from the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests.
American doctors consider the cramped conditions in lockdown to be one of the reasons for the increase. Families and their dogs are exposed to greater stress because of closed schools and childcare facilities. In addition, children are longer with dogs in lockdown than usual and not always under supervision.
Another reason cited in the media for the phenomenon is the pet boom that has shown itself since the beginning of the crisis: Many families have bought a dog, but during this time there was often a lack of training opportunities and social contacts with other animals . “The warning signals that dogs send out at an early age cannot yet be correctly recognized and interpreted by children and possibly also by new dog owners. It is precisely here that the deficit caused by the corona-related closed dog schools can be seen, ”said the Austrian KFV.
Less bitten postmen in South Tyrol
For South Tyrol, however, there is the all-clear. The director of the medical and surgical emergency department at the Bolzano hospital, Dr. Mario La Guardia. Although the numbers were not systematically collected, “after consulting my colleagues, I can rule out that there were more dog bites during the Covid period”.
A curious detail: The number of dog bite attacks on postmen has even decreased in South Tyrol since the outbreak of the pandemic. Such incidents would have to be reported to the State Institute for Insurance Against Accidents at Work (INAIL), so the relevant data was available. Unfortunately, they do not mean that the historically bad relationship between the postman and man’s best friend has improved: The phenomenon can simply be traced back to the fact that the postal service was suspended for some time, says Dr. La Guardia – and man’s best friend had less opportunity to snap at the trouser leg of the alleged intruder.
