Pets 'are household hazards'

Washington, April 19 (ANI): They are known for providing companionship, but a new U.S study suggests dogs and cats are a lurking household danger, causing all kinds of injuries related to falls.

During the study, researchers found that the accidents took place while people were chasing after them, stepping over them, and other scenarios.

"Certainly pets are wonderful and have many benefits, so we're not saying anything about not having pets," Live Science quoted study researcher Judy Stevens, a senior epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, as saying.

The report comes from a nationally representative sample of emergency department visits to about 60 hospitals from Jan. 1, 2001 to Dec. 31, 2006, finding some 7,456 records were linked to pet-related falls.

From this, Stevens and colleagues calculated the national estimate would reach 86,629 for fall injuries associated with cats and dogs in the United States in 2006.

Though an alarming number, it's just 1 percent of the 8 million fall injuries treated in emergency departments, Stevens said.

The report showed that even though cats are known to follow at your heels, or right beneath your feet, dogs were involved in nearly 7.5 times as many injuries as cats.

That's "mainly because dogs are bigger and stronger, and we do see children and women are most likely to be involved in a fall with a dog."

The researchers also found that girls were more than twice as likely as men to have pet-related fall injuries. And children and the middle-age group were the most likely to end up in the ER after an accident with the fur balls.

More than a quarter of dog-related injuries occurred while people were walking the pet, with the most frequent circumstances falling or tripping over one's dog and being pushed or pulled by the four-legged pals.

As cats are mostly homebodies, it's no surprise most falls involving the bossy felines occurred in or around the house. Nearly 12 percent of these injuries happened while people were chasing cats.

The findings are detailed in the current issue of the Journal of Safety Research. (ANI)