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Ohio, Pa. on Top 10 List for Dog-Bite Claims
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Dogs have good days and bad days. but for the 4.7 million victims of dog bites each year, a dog’s bad day can result in serious injury or even death. Ohio and Pennsylvania rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the number of dog bite insurance claims submitted to State Farm last year.
State Farm had 3,670 claims of dog bite submitted and paid more than $108 million as a result. This is a slight decrease compared to the number of dog bite claims in 2011 (3,750) and a slight decrease in the amount paid as a result of such claims in 2011 ($109 million).
At 451, California led the nation last year in the number of dog bite claims, resulting in an estimated $17.1 million paid, followed by Illinois and Texas with 337 and $9 million and 236 and $4.3 million, respectively.
In Ohio, 235 claims were submitted, with State Farm paying our $5 million. Pennsylvania claims totaled 165, with a payout of an estimated $4.5 million.
Rounding out the top 10 are Michigan (151 claims, $4.6 million paid), Indiana (149, $2.7 million), Florida (123, $7.1 million), Georgia (123, $3.3 million) and New York (116, $6.4 million).
Because dog bites remain a serious health and safety issue, State Farm has joined the National Dog Bite Prevention Week (May 19 to 25) Coalition to reinforce the importance of pet owner responsibility and the need for continued public education regarding dog bite prevention.
National Dog Bite Prevention Week Coalition offers these statisics:
- The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates the U.S. dog population was 70 million at the end of 2011, down from 72 million in 2006, yet the number of dog bite incidents hasn't fallen.
- Prevent the Bite, a nonprofit organization devoted to dog bite prevention through education, reports that from 2001 to 2011, dog bites were the ninth-leading cause of nonfatal unintentional injury to children ages 5 to 9 (512,638) and 10th for children 10 to 14 (412,895).
- The Insurance Information Institute (III) estimates that in 2012, insurers across the country paid nearly $489 million in dog bite claims.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics states that more than half of all dog bite victims are children; some 400,000 receive medical attention every year.
- The American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery reports that 27,752 reconstructive procedures were performed in 2012 to repair injuries caused by dog bites.
- The U.S. Postal Service reports that 5,879 letter carriers were bitten or attacked by dogs in 2012. That is 274 more incidents than in 2011.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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