A dog initially bites someone with their front teeth, not the molars. The
front teeth are design tear the flesh, not bite through bone and cartilage.
They use the molars to break bone, but no person would sit there and allow a
dog to move this thumb to the side of his mouth so he could bite it off. He
would be busy pulling his hand back out of the hole, and ripping the flesh
off his hand.

This is an old urban legend told by Jr. High School kids that Harry must
have believed.

Information of dog bites from the CDC
In 2001, an estimated 368,245 persons were treated for dog bite--related
injuries (rate: 129.3 per 100,000 population) (Table). The injury rate was
highest for children aged 5--9 years and decreased with increasing age.
Approximately 154,625 (42.0%) dog bites occurred among children aged 14
years; the rate was significantly higher for boys (293.2 per 100,000
population) than for girls (216.7) (p = 0.037) (Figure 1). For persons aged
15 years, the difference between the rate for males (102.9) and females
(88.0) was not statistically significant. The number of cases increased
slightly during April--September, with a peak in July (11.1%). For injured
persons of all ages, approximately 16,526 (4.5%) dog bite injuries were
work-related (e.g., occurred to persons who were delivering mail, packages,
or food; working at an animal clinic or shelter; or doing home repair work
or installations). For persons aged 16 years, approximately 16,476 (7.9%)
dog bite injuries were work-related.

Injuries occurred most commonly to the arm/hand (45.3%), leg/foot (25.8%),
and head/neck (22.8%). The majority (64.9%) of injuries among children aged
4 years were to the head/neck region; this percentage decreased
significantly with age (p0.01) (Figure 2). Injuries to the extremities
increased with age (p0.01) and accounted for 86.2% of injuries treated in
EDs for persons aged 15 years. Injury diagnoses were described frequently
as "dog bite" (26.4%); other diagnoses included puncture (40.2%), laceration
(24.7%), contusion/abrasion/hematoma (6.0%), cellulitis/infection (1.5%),
avulsion/crush (0.8%), and fracture/dislocation (0.4%). Overall, 98.2% of
patients were treated and released from the ED.

Narrative comments in the medical records note common circumstances in which
children and adults incurred dog bite--related injuries. Examples among
children included a girl aged 18 months who was attacked by the family dog
in the backyard and sustained an open depressed skull fracture, mandible
fractures, and avulsion of an ear and part of a cheek; a boy aged 4 years
who was bitten on the lip by a dog that was guarding her pups; and a girl
aged 3 years who was bitten on the face when trying to take food away from
the family dog. Examples among adults included a man aged 34 years who
sustained an avulsion laceration to his left thumb while trying to break up
a fight between his dogs; a woman aged 27 years who sustained multiple
puncture wounds to her forearm, thumb, and chest while trying to help her
dog, which had been hit by a car; and a woman aged 75 years who was bitten
while she was trying to prevent her dog from attacking an Emergency Medical
Technician who was attempting to transport her from home by ambulance.



"John S" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 20:50:07 GMT, "Dr. Dr. Smithers"
wrote:


"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...



One night someone tried to break into the store by using a
suction-circular glass cutter on the front door. When my father arrived,
there was Marvin sitting inside by the door, a round hole in the door
and, in front of Marvin on the concrete floor...a bitten-off thumb.

LOL, I remember telling that story when we would go camping.


Wow, it's really getting piled deep! These stories never cease to amaze
me!
Next the 35' lobster boat will grow to 50'.