For the benefit of both dogs and people, the NCRC publishes accurate, documented, reliable research on the human/canine bond, in order to promote common-sense, community safety, and compassion.

". . . in the aftermath of a highly-publicized event people are often more fearful than they ought to be – the phenomenon of ‘availability bias.’ An available incident can lead to excessive fixation on worst-case scenarios – just as the absence of such an incident can lead to an unjustified sense of security.”

Cass R. Sunstein, University of Chicago

It is important that we clear the air about the dog bite “epidemic." The often-repeated numbers that inspired some commentators to declare the epidemic were rough estimates, not tallies, and are now more than 14 years old. Recent critics have challenged the reliability of those estimates. Further, even as alarmists reacted to sensational news accounts by condemning dogs as a growing threat, communities across the country report the good, less publicized news that dog bites are falling, and have been for years. The automobile, the bicycle, and the swimming pool pose a greater risk to life and health than the dog. To see the risk dogs pose in your state please go to the NCRC page:

http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/statestats.asp

“The search for independent variables can’t succeed because the procedures upon which it depends are based on an outmoded view of the so-called ‘hard’ sciences.”

John Lewis Gaddis, Yale University