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Merseyside Police launch campaign to prevent dog attacks as region tops injury list
National World - LocalTV
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24/07/2023
Merseyside Police, alongside partner including The Communication Workers Union, University of Liverpool, and local councils have joined forces to help reduce dog bites.
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00:00
Merseyside Police, alongside partners including the Communication Workers Union, University
00:07
of Liverpool and local councils, have joined forces to help reduce dog bites.
00:11
We've launched it this time of year because our data shows that the dog bites increase
00:15
over the summer months and then they increase again over the summer holiday period. 25%
00:20
of our victims are dog bites in Merseyside or children under the age of 16. So we know
00:24
that it's an issue right the way from dog bites, whether you've got a dog that will
00:27
bite once, to dog attacks where you get a sustained attack and multiple bites of an
00:32
individual and we're trying to reduce these in Merseyside by teaching people to make sure
00:36
that what dog they get suits their family home, that what they've got as their set-up
00:41
at home meets the needs of the dog.
00:44
Over the summer holidays Merseyside Police will post a series of videos on social media
00:48
to educate dog owners and join with partners to speak to people in parks and other public
00:53
places.
00:54
Our research at the University of Liverpool has been looking at hospital records to see
00:58
what's been going on with dog bites and from that we can see that the greatest number of
01:03
hospital admissions is in the Liverpool city region and three of those areas are actually
01:10
in the top ten local authorities in the country for dog bites.
01:14
In 2022 there were tragically two fatal dog attacks on Merseyside. 17-month-old Bella
01:21
Rae Birch was killed after she was attacked by a dog in her home in St Helens and 65-year-old
01:27
grandmother Anne Dunn died following a dog attack at a house in Kirkdale.
01:31
We recognise that we've seen two really heartbreaking incidents last year where two people lost
01:36
their lives as a result of a dog attack but also we do see high numbers across Merseyside
01:42
of dog bites in particular and we know that it spikes over the summer as well so the campaign
01:46
today, the Taking the Lead campaign is all about having that conversation with the public,
01:50
having that conversation with dog owners, trying to encourage them to think about where
01:53
they're getting their dog from, making sure they pick the right dog for their environment
01:57
and making sure that they then put that training and socialisation in place so there's no risk
02:01
to them, to their family or the public.
02:03
Between 1998 and 2018 around 5% of all national hospital admissions in relation to dog bites
02:10
occurred in Merseyside with Knowsley containing the most incidents per population across 333
02:17
local authorities in England.
02:19
We know that it's really closely linked with deprivation so some of the poorer communities
02:23
in our city are going to be the most impacted.
02:27
Why there's been an increase, we're not 100% sure and we don't know why so most people
02:33
will say there's more dogs which is true, there are more dogs but actually the growth
02:39
in dog bites is going a lot faster than the growth in the dog population so something
02:45
else is going on rather than there just being more dogs about in the city.
02:49
Royal Mail recently announced there had been 1,916 dog attacks reported on its staff last
02:57
year across the UK.
02:59
That's an average of 37 attacks every week.
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