Dog attack what to do

There are about 4.5 million dog bites every year in the U.S., according to the CDC. Nearly one in every five of those bites becomes infected (around 900,000), and between 1999 and 2007, dogs were the cause of 250 deaths. If you don’t count venomous insects, man’s best friend is one of the deadliest animals in the U.S.

A majority of dog attacks are caused by people’s pets that have either gotten loose or weren’t properly leashed to begin with, but some attacks are by stray or feral dogs.
Feral dogs, sometimes referred to as wild dogs or street dogs, are free-ranging, non-domesticated animals that are not and never were somebody’s pet. They’re usually afraid of people, but can be far more dangerous than a lost or abandoned pet (stray) if they’re cornered, starving, or infected with rabies. According to the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management, feral dogs usually form communities that travel together, and they often have rendezvous sites like wolves. They tend to scavenge for food, like garbage and roadkill, around human populations, but they’ve been known to hunt in packs as well. When feral dogs go hunting, it’s usually for livestock, neighborhood pets, and, occasionally, people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. And don’t think feral dogs are something you’ll only find in rural areas. Feral dog packs can be found in almost any city, from Detroit to Dallas, where a woman was recently mauled and bitten over 100 times in the middle of the street.

f you encounter a single dog you’re not familiar with, be it a stray, feral, or a dog you’re sure is somebody’s pet, the CDC recommends you avoid it—even if it seems like it’s lost or needs help. This goes double for dogs that are sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies. Even if it’s obvious the dog is someone’s pet, an unleashed dog can be dangerous, especially for children. If an unfamiliar dog approaches you, do not run, panic, or make loud noises. Stay motionless, keeping the side of your body facing the dog while avoiding direct eye contact. Say things like “No” or “Go Home” in a deep, firm voice, and slowly raise your hands to cover your neck while keeping your elbows in. Now wait for the dog to leave or begin to slowly back away.

If the dog charges you, it’s still important to stand as still as possible. As Dr. Sofia Yin, DVM, MS, explains, dogs charge for one of two reasons: either because they are scared and know offense is their best defense, or because something you or another person in the vicinity did something that excited them and made them think they’re being rewarded. People’s pets can get caught in a self-reinforced feedback loop where they “play” a little too hard and don’t know any better. If you yell and move around frantically, the dog will think you’re playing along and won’t stop.

If the dog is clearly being aggressive, not playing (growling, snarling, barking), or obviously feral (dirty, no collar, not reacting to commands), Yin recommends you try and put something between you and the animal. A backpack, purse, jacket, or even a shoe can make for a great shield. Look at the dogs’ body language so you can prepare to block attacks. Tension in the body, raised hackles (the hair along the dog’s back), and ears that are flat against their head are things to watch for. Don’t try to hit the dog with the item, though, as this can make the dog even more aggressive. Just try to back away slowly. If the dog knocks you down, curl into a ball with your head tucked, make fists with your hands to protect your fingers, and use your hands and arms to cover your ears and neck.

Wild Animals | Rattlesnake

Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small animals such as birds and rodents.
Rattlesnakes receive their name from the rattle located at the end of their tails, which makes a loud rattling noise when vibrated that deters predators or serves as a warning to passers-by. However, rattlesnakes fall prey to hawks, weasels, king snakes, and a variety of other species. Rattlesnakes are heavily preyed upon as neonates, while they are still weak and immature. Large numbers of rattlesnakes are killed by humans. Rattlesnake populations in many areas are severely threatened by habitat destruction, poaching, and extermination campaigns.
Rattlesnakes are the leading contributor to snakebite injuries in North America. However, rattlesnakes rarely bite unless provoked or threatened; if treated promptly, the bites are seldom fatal.
Like all pit vipers, rattlesnakes have two organs that can sense radiation: their eyes, and a set of heat-sensing "pits" on their faces that enable them to locate prey and move towards it, based on the prey's thermal radiation signature. These pits have a relatively short effective range of about 1 ft, but give the rattlesnake a distinctive advantage in hunting for warm-blooded creatures at night.

Heat-sensing pits

Aside from this pair of simple eyes, rattlesnakes are able to detect thermal radiation emitted by warm-blooded organisms in their environment. Functioning optically like a pinhole camera eye, thermal radiation, in the form of infrared wavelength light, enters, passes through the opening of the pit and strikes the pit membrane located in the back wall, warming this part of the organ. Due to the extremely high density of these heat-sensitive receptors innervating this membrane, the rattlesnake can detect temperature changes of 0.003 °C or less in its immediate surroundings. Infrared cues from these receptors are transmitted to the brain by the trigeminal nerve, where they are used to create thermal maps of the snake’s surroundings. Due to the small sizes of the pit openings, typically these thermals images are low in resolution and contrast. Nevertheless, rattlesnakes superimpose visual images created from information from the eyes with these thermal images from the pit organs to more accurately visualize their surroundings in low levels of light. Research conducted recently on the molecular mechanism of this ability suggests the temperature sensitivity of these pit organs is closely linked to the activity of transient receptor potential ankyrin 1, a temperature-sensitive ion channel saturated in the pit membrane.

Skin and circulation

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Rattlesnake skin has a set of overlapping scales which cover the entire body, providing protection from a variety of threats including dehydration and physical trauma. The typical rattlesnake, genus Crotalus, has the top of its head covered with small scales, except, with a few species, a few crowded plates directly over the snout. The skin of snakes is highly sensitive to contact, tension, and pressure; they are capable of feeling pain.
An important function of the skin is the sensation of changes in air temperature, which can guide the snakes towards warm basking/shelter locations. All snakes are ectotherms. To maintain a stable body temperature, they exchange heat with their external environments. Snakes often move into open, sunny areas to absorb heat from the sun and warmed earth, a behavior known as basking. Nerves in the skin regulate the flow of blood into the veins near the surface. Rubio states, "The skin's acceptance of radiant energy, its ability to determine the temperature, and the snake's ability to move toward or away from one temperature gradient to another are among the most important behavioral actions in its daily life."
The skin of rattlesnakes is intricately patterned in a manner that camouflages them from their predators. Rattlesnakes do not generally have bright or showy colors (reds, yellows, blues, etc.), instead relying on subtle earth tones that resemble the surrounding environment.
Creases in the epidermal tissue connect the scales of rattlesnakes. When ingesting large prey, these creases can unfold, allowing the skin to expand to envelop a much greater volume. The skin appears to tightly stretch to accommodate the meal, but in reality, the skin is simply smoothing out from its creased state and is not under very high tension.

Jane Worll for Animalix

If dogs and cats had legal rights, how would that impact other animals?

People are duking it out over custody of the family companion animal in divorce proceedings. People are suing for damages when a companion animal is injured or killed. People are demanding consideration of companion animals during disaster response.
I guess that means laws giving rights to, at the very least, dogs and cats should be right around the corner, right?
Not so fast, pardner. There are plenty of adversaries to face down before you ride into that town.

Like who?

Well, the American Veterinary Medical Association, for one. To be sure, they WANT you to consider your pet a beloved family member. But they don’t want you suing the crap out of them when you believe a member of their ranks provides substandard care.
They do have a valid point. If dogs and cats had rights, the cost of veterinary care would go through the roof. Think your vet bills are high now? What would they be if the cost of malpractice insurance was tacked onto the cost? And that thing I’m doing now with using a dog medication off-label with Bubba Cat? I’m sure THAT would not be allowed to continue.

Pet stores and Puppy mill breeders are most certainly not for animals having rights. Would that impact the sale of animals? Probably. At the very least, the standards of care required for breeder animals would be strictly regulated, unlike it is now.

Research labs would not be able to conduct the testing on dogs and cats, because dogs and cats cannot provide consent.

Dog food would be more expensive as the requirements for manufacture would become more stringent. Though, to be sure, dog food is already a cut-throat business, and manufacturers are already employing strict manufacturing standards to avoid recalls that can destroy a brand.

Shock collars would most certainly go by the wayside. Say good-bye to your invisible fence!

If you think the one-upmanship of pet owners is bad now, imagine how it would be if your neighbor could report you for not bathing your dog regularly or not taking him for a walk every day. It would be kind of like child abuse investigations are now: some investigations have merit, while others are nuisance calls made to harass the one being investigated.

If dogs and cats had legal rights, how would that impact other animals?

It wouldn’t take long for courts to rule that the Great Apes should also be afforded rights. After all, they are the animals most like humans in appearance. That would impact research labs and zoos.

Animal agriculture would most certainly be impacted. The cost of meat, milk, and eggs would rise as farms would be forced to provide humane living conditions for animals used to feed humans.

Extermination practices would have to change considerably, as it would no longer be acceptable to just poison rats and mice.

As you have no doubt figured out, this is not a change that people would willingly accept in one lump sum. It’s going to take time, and a continuing change in public perception to get us there.

Are YOU still willing to fight for animals to have rights, or is the cost going to be higher than you’re willing to pay?

The cost of eggs is going to go up because of the law recently enacted in CA. Even midwestern egg farmers will have to raise their prices if they supply to California, because they will have to comply with the new regulations, that require the chicken’s cage be large enough for it to move around and flap its wings. That means fewer chickens in the same amount of space, which means fewer eggs, and higher heating costs for farmers. Of course, you could just buy eggs from your local farms, where you can see the chickens running free the way they are meant to be. The cost will be comparable.

You can always cut meat and dairy out of your diet if the cost irks you.

There should be a way to grant animals more rights in terms of quality of life without granting full “personhood”.

It is good that someone is tackling this subject. Like you say, it is large and complex. Mostly, I see it as sad.

to help animals, and more who think it is lucrative…Their prices reflect their greed in many cases.

There are faults on all sides, over breeding, shelters–(badly named if they ‘kill’), lax laws for abusers, the people who ‘have to have purebreds over mixed breeds, (those people should look at the percentage of purebred animals that end up in “shelters” and are destroyed,) the list goes on and on.

Turning things around takes so long, it sometimes feels hopeless—actually a good deal of the time.

Granting ‘personhood’–I wonder….’Personhood’ is what is responsible for the status of things now….

Thought provoking post. I think animals do have ‘rights’ or at least protection in law. I stand by the RSPCA (and other charities) in their fight for fair treatment of all animals – domestic or farmyard. And to bring prosecutions where necessary. Only by debating animal rights, will more people become aware of the issues and perceptions will change. In the meantime, it is incumbent on all animal lovers to bring wrong-doing to the attention of the authorities and social media.

The protection laws we have in place here in the UK are clearly not working so rights are needed. I don’t care how it effects puppy mills and pet shops. I would be happy to pay more for food. And vet treatment is one of those things you expect as a pet owner. I would pay whatever it took. 

However I do take your point on the off the label medicines. When one of my guinea pigs was ill, they recommended an anti-biotic which was actually for cat use but it worked exactly as they promised. 

However we already see pets as members of the family, why doesn’t...