July 16, 2008 @ 9:53 pm
Beware horses in Australia
Horses were the number one cause of animal-related deaths in Australia between 2000 and 2006 according to research done by the National Coroners Information System in Australia.
Of the 128 animal-related deaths during the period, 40 involved horses, 20 cattle and 12 dogs. By comparison, some of the more dangerous animals numbered a lot less with sharks killing 11 people, crocodiles or alligators 4, snakes 8 and spiders 3.
The numbers are a bit of a surprise but people do interract with domesticated animals much more frequently, so if the report showed the percentage of the interractions with the various animal types, the domesticated animals wouldn’t appear as dangerous.
I was taught from a young age to be careful when handling horses as they are both powerful and unpredictable. Experience over the years has just confirmed this to be true.
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2 Responses to “Beware horses in Australia”
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November 2nd, 2008 at 3:38 am
Your post is quite thought provoking. So many people have an innate fear of being bitten or stung, when statistically, the animals they deal with every day are more likely to be a cause of harm. On the same lines, it’s said that most dog attacks are by the family dog on a family member.
Just makes a stronger case fro safety and good training in my opinion.
http://horseproblems.horsetrainingsuccess.com/
November 17th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Phil,
Thanks for your comment. I took a look at your link and the website looks interesting.
As a big fan of the Dog Whisperer on TV, we see each episode that most dog problems are related to human behaviour. I am sure that the same applies to other animals too.