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Children are most at risk because of their size and ignorance--or innocence--about dogs. (A gentle Rottweiler named Carl is even the star of a popular series of children's books.) They're not the only ones in danger, though. Mailmen have long been a comic foil for mean dogs, but there was nothing funny about the 3,000 attacks on letter carriers last year. According to the Insurance Information Institute, one-third of all liability claims on homeowner's insurance are for dog attacks. "Rottweilers can be great dogs," says Carolyn Gorman, director of the institute's Washington office. "But a lot of people who buy them to deter crime don't have the time or the inclination to train them."
What can be done? Some communities have stiffened leash laws and penalties on owners of dogs that bite. Sacks suggests that owners be required to tattoo any dog that has bitten someone, then be forced to keep the dog chained or fenced if it bites again. When faced with a hostile dog, animal-control experts recommend backing away slowly, rather than trying to outrun it. Shouting a command it may know, like "Sit!," may also stop a dog. And if attacked, curl into a ball with arms and hands over head and neck; don't scream.
Christopher Wilson, however, wasn't an animal-control expert. He was just a kid waiting for the school bus confronted by three dogs that should have been locked up. "These attacks from animals roaming at large in our communities are completely unacceptable," says Sacks. "We are not living on the Serengeti Plains."
--Reported by Ann Blackman/Washington and Daniel S. Levy/New York