Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents there have been, since 2010, of a (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal dog attack on a human.
(a) Data provided by National Records of Scotland confirms that there have been three deaths in Scotland since 2010 where the underlying cause of death is being ‘bitten or struck by dog’.
(b) The information requested on the number of non-fatal dog attacks on humans is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. However the following table provided by Public Health Scotland shows the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded, from 2010 to 2022, in Scotland.
Calendar year | Admissions |
2010 | 487 |
2011 | 559 |
2012 | 608 |
2013 | 598 |
2014 | 676 |
2015 | 706 |
2016 | 776 |
2017 | 765 |
2018 | 834 |
2019 | 905 |
2020 | 765 |
2021 | 854 |
2022 | 933 |
It should be noted that dog attack related incidents do not always result in hospital admission, they can also be treated in healthcare settings that do not currently enable robust analysis at diagnostic code level, such as accident and emergency department, out of hours, outpatient or general practice services.
Therefore Public Health Scotland cannot be certain of holding comprehensive information on the total number of dog attack related incidents.