I was browsing our accident claims recently (given that it's Accident Month at Embrace) and it struck me how many of them were caused by other cat or dogs in totally random events. Apart from locking your dog or cat in the bathroom, I'm not sure what you could do to prevent any of these injuries.
In the words of the pet parents themselves:
Dog attack bite wound: Daphny, 5 year old spayed German Shepherd Dog, Chicago IL - claim $791.10
Daphny was attacked by a pit bull. The dog was being walked by a friend of its owner and did not know that it has a history of aggression to german shepherds. It let the dog offleash and as soon as it spotted Daphny, it charged her and attacked her. It took a whole minute for the guy to get his pit bull off Daphny.
Bite wound right shoulder: Benny, 13 year old neutered tabby cat, Long Island ME - claim $131.46
That morning when my husband picked him up he reacted to having his shoulder touched so we tried to check him out and he let us know it hurt. So we made the appointment. We guess he was bitten by another cat somewhere in the neighborhood either early that morning or the evening before (he is not outside at night). First time in his 13 years this has happened and we hope its the last!
Dog fight puncture wounds on neck: Daisy, 7 year old spayed mixed breed dog, Anchorage AK - claim $189.48
Daisy suffers from severe separation anxiety as a result of a former owner having locked her daily into a steel crate in a garage. She eventually bit and tore her way out of the crate, and as a result broke a number of teeth, and of course, developed her separation anxiety over that time. As a result she made her way to the Anchorage, Alaska SPCA Adoption center, as her owner was not interested in working with her. We adopted her from the SPCA, knowing of her special needs, and also being offered to have her stay at the adoption center whenever my wife or I were unable to be home with her. That said, Daisy was spending the afternoon at the adoption center last Tuesday, September 7th, when the incident occurred. Daisy was being kept in a secured area adjacent to the front office, when a dog with severe dog aggression got lose in the back, and pushed her way into the area Daisy was being kept in. This dog, a pit mix, proceeded to attack Daisy and clamped onto the back of her neck, and needed to be pried off by the staff before Daisy was able to be released and examined-which later revealed the deep puncture wounds on the back of her neck, and after being examined by her vet, her need for staples to help close and heal the wounds.
Dog Attack Bite Wounds: Chips 1 year old spayed Labrador Retriever, Chicago IL - claim $990.69
We were at a soccer game (my niece) and two other Labradors with the owner approached us just to say hello, the other labs attacked Chips without any provocation and injured him.
The bite was quite severe, we just removed the stiches last Saturday.
Puncture wounds from dog bite: Bilbo 1 year old intact female English Mastiff, Bradenton FL - claim $132.89
We were out of town and she was staying with a friend who has several other dogs. Apparently there was an altercation over a thawing flank-steak that was stolen from the counter.
Dog bite wounds to face and head: Griffin 7 year old neutered Miniature Schnauzer, Montgomery WV - claim $406.90
Griffin was in the fenced in front yard of a friend's house with the house's owner. The home owner's spouse came home and opened the gate to come into the yard. A dog ran into the yard and grabbed Griffin by the head. Both humans were within a few feet and pulled the dog off of Griffin.
Lacerations and trauma from dog fight: Cody, 5 year old neutered Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Las Vegas NV - Claim $516.57
The incident happened Friday night. We took Cody out for a walk after the sun went down because it is usually too hot in Las Vegas when the sun is up. We were making our way to the park and when we made the turn on the path leading out of our community, there was another dog off leash. The walkway is not lit so it was hard to tell if there was an owner nearby, but before I could react the dog came after Cody. They fought until I could get in the middle and break them up, and I suffered several lacerations myself. I could not tell immediately if Cody was injured and I was able to chase the other dog off. When I got Cody home I could see that he was bleeding and I took him to the emergency hospital.
These claims were all closed in the last 10 weeks; all with people who started their day with no idea that anything untoward was going to happen. Kind of like you today, don't you think? Could this happen to you?
