Seattle police respond to dozens of animal attacks each
year. Take a look at how the city’s neighborhoods compare when it comes to reported
animal bites.
Journal Register Co.
This analysis is drawn from Seattle Police Department
incident reports filed since 2008. Police responses were cataloged by “beat”– 17
geographic designations used by police to divide the city. The neighborhood descriptions
given are approximations based on the police beat.
AP
17. Sodo and Georgetown – Police beat O – This area has seen 19 animal bites reported since 2008.GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
16. Belltown and South Lake Union – Police beat D – This area has seen 29 animal bites reported since 2008.GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
15. Pioneer
Square and the International District – Police beat K – This area has seen 42 animal
bites reported since 2008.GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
14. Broadview and Haller Lake – Police beat N – This area has seen 47 animal bites reported since 2008.JORDAN STEAD/SEATTLEPI.COM
13. Broadway area of Capitol Hill and First Hill – Police beat E – This area has seen 48 animal bites reported since 2008.GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM
12. Downtown core – Police beat M – This area has seen 49 animal bites reported since 2008.GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
11. Ballard, Fremont and Wallingford – Police beat B – This area has seen 50 animal bites reported since 2008.GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM
10. Central District – Police beat G – This area has seen 54 animal bites reported since 2008.
GRANT HINDSLEY/seattlepi.com
9. Madison Park, Lechi and northern Capitol Hill – Police beat C – This area has seen 57 animal bites reported since 2008.JORDAN STEAD/SEATTLEPI.COM
8. University District, Laurelhurst and Ravenna – Police beat U – This area has seen 58 animal bites reported since 2008GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM
7. Lake City and Northgate – Police beat L – This area has seen 58 animal bites reported since 2008.GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM
6. Green Lake, Crown Hill and Greenwood – Police beat J – This area has seen 74 animal bites reported since 2008.GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM
5. Queen Anne and Magnolia – Police beat Q – This area has seen 80 animal bites reported since 2008.GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM
4. North Beacon Hill, Columbia City and Seward Park – Police beat R – This area has seen 101 animal bites reported since 2008.
3. West Seattle – Police beat W – This area has seen 107 animal bites reported since 2008.GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM
2. South Beacon Hill and the Rainier Valley – Police beat S – This area has seen 112 animal bites reported since 2008.JORDAN STEAD/SEATTLEPI.COM
1. Delridge and White Center – Police beat F – This area has seen 113 animal bites reported since 2008.JORDAN STEAD/SEATTLEPI.COM
Seattle police respond to dozens of animal attacks each year, but the toll isn’t evenly spread around the city.
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The city’s residential neighborhoods see the bulk of the bites, according to Seattle Police Department records. Take a look at the gallery above to see how the city’s neighborhoods compare when it comes to reported animal bites.
While animal bites of course carry a variety of risks, Washington hasn’t seen a case of rabies transmitted by a dog since 1939.
This analysis is drawn from Seattle Police Department incident reports filed since 2008. Police responses were cataloged by “beat”– 17 geographic designations used by police to divide the city. The neighborhood descriptions given are approximations based on the police beats.
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Bites to people and pets may be reported to Seattle animal control authorities at 206-386-7387. Life-threatening animal emergencies may be reported by calling 911.
Turns out Western Washington’s critters are only cute on the outside. Take a look at some of the region’s most notorious walking, flying and sliding disease vectors. Information from Public Health – Seattle & King County.GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
Bats: You know
how bats get a bad rap? Well, it turns out they’re also the state’s most common
source of rabies. So next time one lands in your hair, consider letting it
stay.
Jessica Kourkounis/For the Chronicle
Backyard chickens and
ducks: Moving isn’t great for chicks and ducklings, or their keepers.
Stressed poultry drops salmonella, a bacteria carried in animal feces that
causes food poisoning. More stress means more bacteria, which means a higher risk
of salmonella on those farm-fresh eggs.
Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images
Cats: Cat scratch
fever isn’t just Ted Nugent’s one positive contribution to culture. It’s a
real disease, one most often spread by young cats … who scratch flea droppings
into their owners.
GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
Dogs: You know
how cats and dogs can get tapeworm, those feet-long parasites that grow in the
intestine? People can too. From dogs.
GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
Ferrets: These little
weasels can carry a host of diseases, including giardia. They also tend to
bite -- particularly children who startle them.
JOSHUA TRUJILLO/SEATTLEPI.COM
Fish: Mycobacterium
marinum loves aquarium water. That’s the bacteria that used to blow through swimming
pools; chlorination solved that problem. Now it causes skin lesions in aquarium
cleaners who don’t keep it clean.
ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images
Fleas: Plague.
They can spread plague. But they usually don’t, at least to people. The last
case of plague in Washington was in 1984. And it can be treated with
antibiotics.
Pattie Steib
Goats: Beware, tin
can collectors -- goat ownership is legal in Seattle. They can spread plenty of
farm-y diseases, including something called orf. It causes large blisters in an
animal’s mouth and can be passed to people. Though it hasn't occurred in the
United States since 1929.
GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLEPI.COM
Horses: True fact
– horses can carry rabies, but they usually don’t. They do spread
cryptosporidium through their feces, so watch for horse trails next to water
sources and swimming holes.
GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM
Monkeys: Don’t
handle monkeys. Or apes. It’s illegal to own them in Washington, and a bad idea
generally.
GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM
Mosquitos: The
two diseases mosquitos are making news on – West Nile and Zika – aren’t much of
a problem in Western Washington. Thanks, rain.
James Gathany/AP
Parrots: Parrots
can carry a bacteria, chlamydophila psittaci, that causes pneumonia in people. Some
also live a really, really long time, so bird owners had best decide who inherits
their killer if they succumb to parrot fever.
AP
Pigs: Mini pigs
are legal in Seattle, so long as they weigh less than 150 pounds. Pigs share
plenty of diseases, including yersiniosis, a bacterial infection that causes
painful diarrhea lasting one to three weeks. Fecal contact is a common mode of transmission,
though undercooked pork will do it too.
GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM
Raccoons: Raccoon
roundworm eggs are usually passed through contact with raccoon feces, or soil
where a raccoon has relieved itself. When they hatch, the larvae spread
throughout the body; the larger the exposure, the worse the infection.
Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo
Rats: The world’s
most famous disease vector can carry plenty of nastiness, including, of all
things, monkeypox. An outbreak of the disease in 2003 was tied to a pet prairie
dog. The virus kills between 1 percent and 10 percent of people infected, though
treatment in the United States likely raises the survival rate.
AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Ticks: Tick-borne
diseases are actually relatively rare in Washington, but the severity of the
diseases – Lyme disease and tick-borne relapsing fever – and the parasitic
nature of ticks themselves raises their profile.
AP
Wild birds: Avian
flu is a constant, though it hasn’t caused a pandemic for generations. Avian leavings,
on the other hand, are a menace. From owl pellets to pigeon poop, they spread salmonella and other germs.
