According to Charlie O'Brien, a code compliance officer with the Richfield Public Safety Department, a witness said the victim put her face toward the dog in a threatening way. The girl underwent surgery at an area hospital to repair damage to her face, and the dog was ordered quarantined at its owner's home for 10 days. The owner was issued a warning that his dog was potentially dangerous, in accordance with Minnesota state law. Though this may be an isolated incident, it reflects a larger problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that a total of 4.5 million dog bites occur each year in the United States alone, causing about 20 deaths and 756,000 injuries requiring medical attention.
Children are the most frequent victims.
Dog bites now exceed the total number of cases of measles, whooping cough, and mumps that affect children each year. Often, untrained or aggressive dogs will attack children in the face, leading to 44,000 child facial bite cases reported each year 16,000 of them requiring plastic surgery. The dangers adults and children face have not been taken lightly, according to PetCare, one of the nation's largest pet superstores. PETsMART, PetCare's largest competitor, could not be reached for comment, despite numerous attempts to reach personnel at its corporate offices in Phoenix. Felicia Stanczak, a spokeswoman for PetCare , said that PetCare requires pets brought into the store be on a leash or within a safe container.