Are dog bites a common occurrence?

Dog bites and dog attacks happen far more often than people may think. Statistics show that there are approximately 78 million dogs in the United States, and the American Humane Society (AHS) estimates that roughly 4.7 million dog bites happen each year with 800,000 bites requiring medical attention. Approximately 25 percent of fatal dog attacks involve canines that are chained and 24 percent of fatal attacks are the result of dogs running loose.