Bushwick Has The Biggest Dog Bite Problem In Brooklyn, Study Finds

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — First rats, then artists, now dog bites — Bushwick topped a lot of lists this week.

The same week the city named Bushwick as the Brooklyn neighborhood with the worst rat problem (and researchers found out that Bushwick’s artist population is growing faster than any other) the Health Department announced that Bushwick is the dog bite capital of Brooklyn.

The report, released Friday, analyzed city dog bite data from 2014 and broke down the 6,373 dog bites emergency room visits reported by neighborhood, ages and severity of the bite.

Bushwick was the only neighborhood in Brooklyn to report 106.8 dog bite-related emergency room visits per 100,000 residents.

Analysts suggested the disparity was related to income — data found that dog bites are more common in poor neighborhoods than in wealthy ones.

Low-income neighborhoods averaged 94.1 E.R. visits per 100,000 residents while high-income neighborhoods averaged only 61.5 per 100,000.

Brooklyn did not win the city-wide contest for dog bites, however. That award went to Staten Island with an average of 114.7 dog bite E.R. visits per 100,000 — which was twice the Manhattan rate.

The city suggested its citizens bone up on their dog owner and child safety skills, as the bite injuries cost the taxpayers more than $17 million to treat, the report found.

“Dog bites can be dangerous,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. “So it’s important that all New Yorkers, particularly children, learn how to interact with dogs.”

Photo courtesy of Pixabay