Tödliche Attacken von Hunden auf Kinder Aktualgenese und Motivation bei spezifischer Kasuistik und bestimmten pathomorphologischen Veränderungen

Abstract This article describes four cases of fatal dog attacks on children. These cases have in com-mon that in each case at least two dogs par-ticipated in the attack on the child and severe injuries were predominantly found in the head and neck region. The injury patterns are similar to those found after cadaver scaveng-ing and also by catching prey and hunting behavior and thus the ultimate fixed action patternofpredatorybehaviorinwolves anddomesticdogs.Theultimatefixedactionpat-tern of predatory behavior is the killing of the prey. The so-called scheme of catching prey is based on genetic disposition and learning experiences and can include humans (chil-dren) in extremely severe cases or be associ-ated with social aggression interactive with humans (children). The causes of death in the cases described here were exsanguination and air embolism. The autopsy of two dogs demonstrated human tissue of the deceased children in the stomach contents. These cas-es demonstrate the vulnerability of children to dog attacks especially in the region of the head and neck, a region which is normally the target of attacks in hunting behavior. This study demonstrates the need for interdisci-plinaryscientificcooperation describesthestepsnecessarytoelucidateandpreventattacks by domestic dogs.