Doctors at a B.C. hospital say children must be taught about the dangers of strange dogs, so that they stay out of harm's way and away from the operating table.
A group of doctors have reviewed more than 100 cases in which a dog bit a child.
They found that children tend to get bit in the face and most often by a dog they know. In over half of the cases, the attacks are unprovoked.
"The dogs see a child of the same stature and height and that playful nature can result in attacks to the facial region. And that's where the great majority of the attacks that we see are actually to the nose, to the mouth, to the lip," said Dr. Jugpal Arneja, when speaking to CTV News about the review.
Young Caitlin Henrickson was one of an estimated 500,000 Canadians who was bit by a dog last year.
"It bit me on my forehead, on my eye, which I almost lost, and my nose and my mouth," said Henrickson, who now harbours a fear of all of the dogs in her neighbourhood.
In 95 per cent of the dog-bite cases that were reviewed by the B.C. doctors, the children needed surgery and long hospital stays to repair the damage done.
And well after they leave hospital, these children wrestle with stress and long-term issues related to the traumatic event.
"Many patients have mood disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, they're very self-conscious of their body afterwards as well," said Dr. Farrah Yau.
Well over half of the dog bite cases reviewed involved dogs from dangerous breeds.
The doctors say they are researching the issue of dog bites to stir debate on laws restricting dangerous breeds and regulations to keep some dogs on leashes.
"We see the net effect of dog attacks and our goal is to try to educate in an effort to prevent these attacks from happening," said Arneja.
The doctors say that parents should teach their children that some dogs can be unpredictable.
With a report from CTV medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip
