The dangers of pets and horses, animal related injuries in the Emergency department

INTRODUCTION: Every year patients present to the emergency department due to bites, scratches and falls caused by animals. Although bite and scratch injuries have been described in literature, the exact number of patients that visit the emergency department due to all animal related injuries has never been described before. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all emergency department visits throughout a 1-year period was performed from April 2015 until March 2016. RESULTS: 516 Patients were treated at the emergency department because of animal related injuries. Most were female and the median age was 38 years. The animals causing most injuries were horses, followed by dogs and cats. Animal related injuries more often caused fractures (n = 165) or contusions (n = 171) compared to wounds (n = 135). No lethal injuries were recorded. However, three animals did not survive the event. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of animal related injuries is 2.8% and this is probably an underestimation. The injuries have noteworthy origins and have potentially severe physical injury as result. Awareness in the general population on the potential dangers of pets and horses could reduce the number and severity of animal related injuries.