“Insurance companies paid out almost $479 million in dog-bite claims in 2011, according to the Insurance Information Institute. That’s close to a half BILLION dollars! This is up from a total of $412 million in 2009 and $413 million in 2010” according to a recent article. The story went on to say that there are 78.2 million dogs in the United States, and that dog bite claims have gone up 48% since 2003 even though the number of dog bites has remained roughly stable according to an AP source.
Insurance industry experts see this as more evidence of a litigious society. Most insurance companies include in their underwriting provisions that they’re not going to cover vicious dogs.
Most homeowners insurance policies cover dog liability, but if your dog has bitten someone your premium may go up or the insurance company may require behavior modification classes (for your dog) to continue coverage.
What this article didn’t discuss is that of the 5,000,000 people who get bitten by dogs every year nearly 1,000,000 of them require hospitalization. An alarming number of those are kids. And the psychological trauma that all these people endure from a dog bite or dog attack is something that lasts their entire life.
If you are one the millions of Americans who come in contact with roaming dogs that are unleashed you should get some self-defense against dogs.
Of the two most common defenses against dog attacks and dog bites in the world of self-defense products one is a dog pepper spray. It is a specially formulated pepper spray specifically for animals. It is very effective with one caveat: it only has a range of 8 to 10 feet and a charging dog can cover 8 to 10 feet in a heartbeat. The other common defense people use against dog attacks is a dog chaser that sends out an ultra-high frequency sound that only dogs can hear. And while it doesn’t hurt them, it is unpleasant for them and chases them away.
Here are two more tools to protect yourself against dog attacks.
Many of our customers are asking for something better, something that has a longer range to protect them against dog attacks and dog bites. Our first recommendation is a Pepper Spray Gun that shoots out a 10% concentration of full strength oleoresin capsicum (OC), the main ingredient in pepper sprays, up to 25 feet away. This pepper gun uses replaceable cartridges that hold enough OC for seven shots just in case you might miss.
Another recommendation is a stun baton that extends from 12 1/2 to 21 1/2 inches at the press of a button which also charges the stun gun to one million volts. While charging, it makes an intimidating sound that our customers tell us scares dogs away just by itself.
Whatever you do, get some kind of defense against dog attacks. You don’t want to be a victim of a dog bite.
The Telescoping Stun Baton has proven to be an effective deterrent against dog attacks.
The Home Security Superstore is one of the oldest and largest independent distributors of high quality home security, surveillance, spy, self-defense, survival and safety products. We carry a wide range of self-defense products including tasers, stun guns, pepper sprays and other nonlethal weapons that can save your life in the event of an attack.