Motor vehicle accidents in urban dogs: a study of 600 cases

The records of 600 dogs injured in motor vehicle accidents and admitted as emergencies to the Trauma Emergency Service of the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital were studied. Young males were the most frequently injured dogs. The motor vehicle accidents resulted in a wide variety of injuries. Superficial wounds were diagnosed as the only manifestation of trauma in 190 (31%) dogs. Among the remaining 410 dogs, skeletal injury was diagnosed in 87% and soft organ injury in 27%. Multiple region injury occurred in 36% of all dogs. Among specific injuries, it was found that the pelvis was the most frequently injured skeletal structure and that the liver was the most frequently injured abdominal organ. Almost all deaths resulted from intrathoracic and intraabdominal injuries, and over 50% of the dogs euthanatized had central nervous system injury. The overall fatality rate, including euthanasias, was 12.5%.