A Retrospective Analysis of Dog–Dog and Dog–Human Cases of Aggression in Northern Italy

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The prevention of dog bites is an important issue with multiple safety and welfare aspects. We investigated the characteristics of dog bite incidents reported to public authorities in the North of Italy with the aim of providing more data for future risk assessment and prevention tools. We found that no breeds in particular were responsible for severe or multiple bites towards either humans or dogs, but there was a trend of defensive bites towards human beings in private homes and a trend of offensive bites towards other dogs in public areas. We also found that crossbreed dogs and dogs adopted from shelters were significantly more likely to show defensive aggression towards their owners. Our findings indicate that defensive aggression towards owners is linked to fear and anxiety, and we suggest that helping owners to have a better understanding of their dogs’ welfare, behaviour and communication via educational programs is an important prevention tool. ABSTRACT: In this survey, a caseload of aggressive dogs (n = 170) was analysed to increase the available information about biting dog characteristics, contribute to risk evaluation and improve bite prevention tools. All dog data were collected from questionnaires completed by veterinary behaviourists in Northern Italy. All dogs were referred to them by public authorities to be evaluated and treated due to the incidence of one or more episodes of aggression. Between the two groups of human-directed and dog-directed aggressive dogs, significant associations were found: the dog-directed aggressive group inflicted significantly more severe bites (p < 0.01) and offensive aggression (p < 0.01), whereas defensive aggression was significantly more numerous in the human-directed aggression group (p < 0.01) and more significantly located in private homes (p < 0.01). No significant associations were found between the severity of bites and one or more specific breeds in either group. The prevalence of defensive bites in private homes in human-directed aggression indicate that owners’ understanding of their dogs’ behaviour and communication is fundamental to preventing aggression, and that owner education programmes are fundamental tools to reduce aggression risk factors and prevent aggression.