Dog attacks put a person in hospital every day last year
DOG attacks put someone in hospital in Greater Manchester every day last year.
Figures obtained from NHS Digital show that in 2016/17, there were 439 admissions to Greater Manchester hospitals after someone had been bitten or struck by a dog.
This corresponds to an average of more than one admission a day.
This is a decrease compared to the previous financial year, when hospitals in the area recorded 481 admissions - the first decrease in three years.
Former MP for Bolton West, Julie Hilling, who has previously campaigned to strengthen legislation on dangerous dogs, said: “These new statistics prove that despite government reassurance, the current legislation to protect people and indeed, other animals, from dangerous dogs isn’t nearly strong enough.
“Much, much more needs to be done in terms of educating dog owners and children on how to be safe around dogs so these dog attacks don’t happen again.”
Julie Hilling previously worked with the parents of Jade Anderson to help strengthen dangerous dog laws, after Jade was tragically mauled to death in 2013 by dogs covered in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
There were 7,461 admissions to hospitals in England due to someone being bitten or injured by a dog.
This works out at an average of more than 20 admissions a day.
The number of admissions has decreased nationally compared to the previous financial year, when there were 7,673 admissions to hospitals.
Overall, people aged 50 to 54 are more likely to be admitted to hospitals than other age groups.
In 2016/17 there were 649 admissions for that age range - 8.7 per cent of the total.
People aged 45 to 49 were the second largest group, with 632 admissions, or 8.5 per cent of the total.
Children aged up to four were the third largest group with 565 admissions, corresponding to 7.6 per cent.
Education officer for the animal welfare charity Blue Cross, Gemma Taylor, said: “Dogs make wonderful companions and family members but we need to remember that their way of communicating is very different to our own and learning a lot about their welfare needs and behaviour means we can spot the signs of fear and stress – two aspects which can be key drivers to a potential bite situation.
“Dogs give us clear signals and signs of how they are feeling in their own body language and in learning these we can get a rich understanding of what they are trying to communicate.”