Repeat offenders may be responsible for many shark attacks
26 comments
·January 30, 2025throw939494i
It is the same with dogs. The "reactive" dogs are just aggressive repetitive offenders, my guess around 10%. My hobby is to count dog attacks in public park, some dogs attack 50 times a week! Usually other dogs, but sometimes people, mostly children!
amelius
> While dogs kill some 30,000 people annually
What's the best way to fend off an aggressive dog (if it is too late and running is not possible)?
mhb
In the US, fewer than 50 people per year are killed by dogs. Worldwide the larger numbers are due to rabies. Depending on your locale, you may not need to worry too much. Probably the best way is to be an adult and not an infant.
londons_explore
dogs in usa are 3x more dangerous than lightning.
dogs are 689x less dangerous than traffic accidents.
it's important to spread safety effort proportional to the risk - both on a personal level and a nationwide level.
fsckboy
>dogs are 689x less dangerous than traffic accidents
per mile driven? what are we talking about here, the Ididarod?
aurareturn
Yes but driving is necessary to feed ourselves nowadays. Owning and raising untrained aggressive dogs is not.
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throw939494i
Weapon obviously. Stone or wooden stick will also do. I carry big umbrella, dogs have no idea what to do once it is deployed. Dogs are cowards, usually only attack defenseless victims.
If you can, get on higher ground (car) so you can kick. Do not allow them to get behind you!
Dogs hate loud sounds, so air horn (on compressed air can), or loud personal alarm are good repellent. Also some fireworks work great.
To deal with dog owners (usual "itjustwantstoplay" or "noproblemnoproblem") scream for help immediately, and record video! Quite often dog owners attack right after their dogs, and make the situation much worse!
caseyohara
> Also some fireworks work great
I’m sorry, but the idea of carrying fireworks and a lighter with you, and thinking you will have time to retrieve them and successfully light the fireworks to fend off an aggressive dog is ridiculous.
throw939494i
Fireworks and lighters are legal in my country, pepper sprays (most humane) are not.
Firecrackers are the most effective way to disperse large pack of dogs. I carry it on hikes.
Lighter is also quite good weapon. Not the BIC type, more like a small blowtorch for melting copper and other metals.
IncreasePosts
Kick it to keep distance. Obviously if you have a weapon use it. If you can get to high ground - on top of a car, on stairs, do that.
If it gets you you just need to let it chomp on whatever bit it has, and use the rest of your body to crush, choke, break it's legs, etc.
Screaming a lot so people come to help probably makes sense too.
If it's a pack of dogs and you're by yourself you're probably screwed. Maybe try to keep them all in front of you, don't let any circle behind you.
ahf8Aithaex7Nai
My tried and tested remedy for disrespectful dogs is a hearty slap on the muzzle from above with an open hand. They don't expect it and it seems to hurt them quite a lot. I even put a rather dominant Ovcharka female in her place with this. (At the time, I didn't know how hard they can bite.)
Running away is not a good idea. Better run towards the dog. Then it will probably turn around, unless it is really sure of itself. In my experience, being convincingly dominant towards dogs is enough to fend them off. Grab something as a weapon if it helps you to be confident. If the dog bites, it will probably only bite very briefly and then let go again. Holding and shaking people like prey is unlikely if it hasn't been conditioned. I don't know what you can do in this case. Try as best you can to injure the animal. You are also dangerous and should let the dog know.
chasd00
Was jumped by two large dogs while walking my own once. Long story but my two dogs survived but were badly bitten and torn up. I have a pistol but strapping on a holster every time I walk my dogs is ridiculous. My neighbors said to get the pepper spray gel and tie it to your leash then it’s always with you. Hats what I did.
Btw running from an aggressive dog will probably make things worse. Now they see you as a prey animal and they’re way faster than a person.
ashoeafoot
Its going to bite leg, arm or throat and then hang on to the prey shaking , while the rest of the pack catches up. If you have anything beyond your fist, use it to punch the nerve rich noose. Alternative get a grip and strangle it.
paulcole
If you have time, wrap your arm in your jacket and shove that into its mouth. Otherwise bare arm as deep into its mouth as you can. In both cases use your other arm to strangle it.
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bitwize
Lions know not to fuck around with humans, which I always imagined made for a grim day in Simba's circle of life training. ("You must never eat a man, Simba, for if you do, its brothers will remember your face, and they will hunt you down, slit open your belly, and wear your skin as a cloak.")
Big cats who take humans tend not to be particularly bold or daring. Rather, they're injured, sick, or starving; in no condition to take their usual prey, they go for whatever is available including us. I wonder if the same is true of sharks.
brudgers
So like Jaws great white.
andrewstuart
"Offenders" turning animals into human criminals.
Terr_
It's not as if we're holding them to a higher standard than the one we use for ourselves. If you bit off and ate someone's leg you'd be a criminal too.
I live in South Africa and anyone who has talked with game rangers has probably heard how lions very rarely prey on humans, but once they’ve done it once, they’ll tend to do it again and again.
Typically victims are people illegally crossing international borders within the large Kruger National Park and the lions who attack them tend to be old solitary males who are starting to get too weak to hunt game and opportunistically try a human they happen across.
They find it works and feeds them so they do it repeatedly.
So if game rangers find a human killed by a lion, they always track the lion down to kill it so as to prevent more deaths of humans.