Emergency medical experience

by mirriam
(dallas ga)

I have worked in emergency medicine for over 18 years, and in that time I have seen the doberman, the rotties, and now the pit bulls all destroyed by inbreeding, fighting and attempts to create guard dogs.
In the 80"s you saw the inner city full of dobbies with horrible box cutter ear jobs, followed by rotties with stumped and broken tails and tow chains hanging off them, now its the pit bulls with the hacked off ears being victimized by ignorance.
The CDC can only report what is reported to it, they do not have real numbers, because the dogs on the list have been stigmatized if one even nips at a person, the great dramatic, over response is to call the police and rush to the emergency room, with a tiny abrasion crying that you were attacked by the bad dog.
Truth is folks, when the family golden retriever bites, even the mom cries and begs us not to alert the authorities and when the black labs lash out, dad begs not to alert the county, because they feel it means they will be forced to put the dog down. I mean these people go emotionally overboard when you say you have to report the bite.
And since the emergency room is overworked, if you don't want to do the paperwork, neither do I.
So in all reality, I have to admit, I have not reported 99% of the dog bites I have treated in the emergency room, but when the parents feel they can sue and possibly get some extra cash from a neighbors home owner insurance, then they report it, when some poor mom who left her toddler unattended for 6 hrs outside with a stray dog running around is forced to face neglect charges, she will lash out at the dog owner and file a report.
Other than that, the CDC has to admit, and has many times, they can only report what is reported to them, making the list absolutely incorrect.
Chocolate labs are the number 1 biter in my career observation.