Indagine sull'aggressività canina nel centro-nord Italia (Survey on canine aggression in the North and Centre Italy)

It's hard to give a universally acceptable definition of aggression. In general, it can be defined as an overt or intentional behaviour shown by an individual to harm or otherwise cause a noxious stimulus against another individual. All dogs may show aggressive behaviour, but the inclination to do it can vary enormously, depending on the genetic, neurochemical factors, hormonal component, socialization and learning. This study aims to provide an overview of the Italian documented cases of dogs bites and to assess the circumstantial factors that led to the attack. Were collected 9231 reports of dog attacks that occurred in central and northern Italy from 1998 to 2005. The data collected from different ASL, were often incomplete, so the data available for each category are lower than the total number of reports. Based on our results, it is possible to draw an identikit of the biter dog: male, adult, mixed breed or and belonging to ENCI groups 1 and 2, which attacks mainly adults strangers. Missing data in the reports collected by local health authorities were quite numerous and for this reason it is hoped that the collection in the future will be integrated with an objective description of the events, analysing most of everything that happened before the attack, including dogs postures and signs of threat.