According to the most recent data from the Insurance Information Institute(I.I.I.), the average cost per claim for dog bites has risen nearly30 percent since 2003, despite the total number of claims submittedfalling by two percent during the same time frame.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that morethan half of the estimated 4.7 million dog bite injuries that occurannually happen on the dog owner's property, so it's no surprisethat the issue has some hackles raised. With the average cost of adog bite claim up to $24,840 in 2009 as reported by the I.I.I., theprospect of a bite is much worse than that of a bark.

Since the last report in 2008, the insurance liability costs havecontinued to rise to a total of $412 million, up an additional 6.4percent from the previous year total value of $387.2 million. Withvalue of claim totals like that, and a continuing trend upward, theissue is certainly nothing to bark at.

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