Every day in New Zealand, on average, someone is admitted to hospital with dog-bite wounds and more than 20 others are treated by general practitioners.
Health Department figures made available to the Weekend Herald disclose 386 admissions to hospitals from dog bites in the year to June 2000.
That was 53 more than the year before, although a department spokesman advised against discerning any trend from the figure because complications developing from a single bite could lead to more than one admission for a victim.
But he added that the figures probably represented just a small proportion of dog attacks as they did not include victims treated at hospital emergency departments and sent home without being admitted.
No statistics were compiled on the cause of injuries treated at emergency departments because of the cost.
However, the Accident Compensation Corporation received 7978 claims from GPs and others last year for dog bites, for which it paid out $669,000.
That compared with 7872 claims the previous year costing the ACC $698,000, and 4369 for the six months to last December for $324,000.
ACC spokesman Richard Braddell said there were 202 "entitlement" claims last year for severe dog-related injuries, involving more than medical treatment and possibly including weekly compensation, an independence allowance or social rehabilitation help.
These also included injuries from being kicked or butted, but most were likely to be from bites.
These claims cost the ACC $606,000 - meaning a comparatively small number of attacks accounted for most of the expense.
But, again, these figures do not disclose the full magnitude of the problem as they do not include the cost of hospital treatment.
Mr Braddell said some claims would be for more than one treatment session, and doctors' fees for procedures such as cleaning or stitching wounds could add $17.20 to $36.35 to initial consultation subsidies of $26 for adults or $35 for children under 6.
An Auckland Hospital emergency specialist, Dr Donna Steele, said most dog-bite victims could be treated without being admitted.
Admissions were often because of infections getting into what could be relatively minor wounds - the mouths of dogs contain a large amount of bacteria.
Marlene Stratton, the inpatient service manager for Middlemore Hospital's Kidzfirst unit, said she was overseeing up to two admissions a week for dog bites in summer, "when there are a lot more dogs and kids out and about".
Meanwhile, two dogs have been impounded at Ngawha, near Kaikohe, after a teenage girl was bitten on her legs inside a family home late on Thursday.
A firefighter was bitten by a dog while attending a rubbish fire near Te Puke yesterday.
He needed several stitches to puncture wounds at the back of his leg.
Herald feature: When dogs attack
How you can help
A trust fund has been opened for 7-year-old dog attack victim Carolina Anderson. You can send a cheque to: Carolina Anderson Trust Account, BNZ, PO Box 46-294, Herne Bay, or donate over the internet to BNZ account number 020 248 000 3002-000.
The Herald is backing an appeal to raise money for a $150,000 operating-room microscope for Middlemore's plastic surgery unit. The microscope is essential in minute plastic surgery work such as reattaching nerves. Middlemore has two, used on Carolina Anderson and the victims of the Pipiroa sword attack, but they need replacing. Donations can be sent to: The Microsurgery Appeal, Editorial Department, New Zealand Herald, PO Box 706, Auckland.
