Alionna Murphy wears a puffy black jacket and holds her small brown dog, Galaxy, as he is fitted for a blue dog collar.

Alionna Murphy holds Galaxy as he is fitted during a collar and leash giveaway by the Animal Care & Control, held at the POPCourts! Community Plaza in the Austin neighborhood in late October.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Dog bites hit South and West Sides hardest — areas that lack dog parks, pet shops, other resources

Dog bites since 2019 have happened all across the city, but the highest number occurred on the South and West Sides, where there are fewer resources for dogs, owners.

SHARE Dog bites hit South and West Sides hardest — areas that lack dog parks, pet shops, other resources
SHARE Dog bites hit South and West Sides hardest — areas that lack dog parks, pet shops, other resources

The wounds from a dog bite Krysten Kelly suffered over the summer are scarred over, serving as a painful reminder.

On a late-August evening, a woman and a man with two kids and two dogs, leashed, were walking past her at Sunnyside Avenue and Clark Street in Uptown. Kelly had her dog, a Chihuahua, in a bag slung over her shoulder.

The woman walked by and a dog jumped up. Kelly thought it was friendly until it bit her left breast. The dog jumped up again toward her face, which she blocked with her left arm, getting bitten again.

Then, Kelly said, the owners turned and walked away, leaving her in “complete shock” and bleeding on the sidewalk.

“I honestly thought the dog was going to be a friendly, put its arms on your shoulder type of a dog because there was no growl. ... There was nothing, no warning at all.”

Krysten Kelly wears a green sweater and sits on bench during grey autumn day at the Ohio Place Dog park in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. 

Krysten Kelly, who was bitten by a dog in the Uptown neighborhood in August, at the Ohio Place Dog Park this month.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Citywide, there were a total 5,952 dog bite complaints fielded since 2019, according to a WBEZ analysis of 311 data. Complaints had dropped during the pandemic but have recently gone back up; there have been 1,054 complaints in 2023 through mid-October.

In Uptown, where Kelly was bitten, 127 complaints have been filed in the last four years, a higher number than all but a dozen of the city’s 77 community areas.

Dog bites over the past few years have occurred all across the city, including in communities such as Uptown where there are several dog parks, but communities with the highest number of complaints are largely on the South and West sides, which offer fewer resources for dogs and their owners.

Through mid-October, the Lower West Side, which includes most of Pilsen, saw the highest number of complaints with 260. Austin, on the West Side, was second highest with 252 complaints. Those two communities don’t have any public spaces where dogs can run free and unleashed.

Austin “has been historically underserved by the city of Chicago,” said Armando Tejeda, a spokesperson with the city’s Animal Care and Control.

“When you compare it to places like Lake View, there’s almost a pet store on every other corner, there’s vets all over the area, but everyone that lives in Austin, they’re secluded from all these pet resources that other neighborhoods do have,” he said.

Toya Reed and Alionna Murphy, wearing black coats, watch as Susan Cappello, acting executive director Chicago Animal Care and Control, holds up a dog collar from the red baskets of collars during an event at the POPCourts! Community Plaza in Chicago.

From left, Toya Reed and Alionna Murphy watch as Susan Cappello, acting executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control, displays dog collars at the POPCourts! Community Plaza in Austin in October.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Addressing inequity in Austin

To provide more resources for pet owners in Austin, Roseland and West Lawn, ACC partnered with Rescue Chicago to launch the Leash and Collar Campaign.

Lashawna Britton, 23, who brought her 6-month-old dog, Prince, to a recent leash and collar event to get him treats, said she wished there was a dog park or communal dog walking group in the area.

“These dogs don’t know each other,” she said.

Often when she’s walking her dog, there’s no opportunity for the dogs to stop and greet each other. Sometimes, she said, dogs will growl and bark at her dog on a walk. She said a communal dog space would help dogs in the neighborhood hang out together.

Jonathan Polich, a dog trainer at K9 University Chicago, said dog bites often stem from fear of stimuli or the environment the dog is in, but training and socialization can help prevent bad behavior.

Another issue is stray dogs.

“If there’s an area you’re getting the majority of strays from and then bites are happening, I mean, something definitely needs to be addressed on our part,” Tejeda said.

The number of strays in the 37th Ward, where Austin is located, increased by the hundreds in 2023, according to Ald. Emma Mitts’ office. As of October, Austin had 454 stray animal complaints.

Other communities that saw a higher number of strays included Roseland, which had 396, and Chicago Lawn, which had 368 in 2023, according to data from ACC. In terms of dog bites, Roseland and Chicago Lawn had 144 and 142 reported complaints, respectively, according to WBEZ’s analysis.

Mitts’ team said several residents have complained about the number of strays, a problem exacerbated by flooding this summer, the alderperson said.

“The tragic, once-in-a-lifetime, disastrous flooding which occurred in late June and early July this summer also impacted the number of dogs which became suddenly unhoused due to flooded basements and houses,” Mitts said in a statement.

ACC is hoping that offering free leashes and collars, as well as other pet resources, in areas that lack quick access to pet stores will help bring the number of strays down.

ACC started with outreach in Austin, with staff going door-to-door and asking pet owners what resources they would like to see in the area. Staff also went to CTA bus and train stops to talk to community members, Tejeda said.

Austin residents mentioned that the most helpful things would be access to collars and leashes, vaccine and microchip clinics, pet stores and communal spaces where dog owners could meet each other.

ACC is working with Mitts to coordinate the opening of Austin’s first dog park — one request ACC staff has heard over and over again from community members.

Opening a dog park would not only give the community a space to get to know each other, but would also help dogs in the neighborhood get to know each other, said A.L. Smith, Mitts’ spokesperson.

“We want to be able to provide to the 37th Ward residents some of the civic advantages that can help make their lives more peaceful and more enjoyable,” Smith said.

Alionna Murphy wears a puffy black jacket and holds her small brown dog, Galaxy, as he is fitted for a blue dog collar.

Alionna Murphy holds Galaxy as he is fitted for a dog collar during a leash and collar event in late October.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

In the Southwest Side communities of Wentworth Park and West Lawn, organizers successfully advocated for dog parks in their communities.

Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), who helped coordinate the opening of two dog parks, at 4233 W. 65th St. and 5625 S. Mobile Ave., in his ward this year, said he started the process when constituents mentioned wanting more dog-friendly spaces on the South Side.

Quinn formed committees for the two parks — Woof Lawn and Wentwoof — and started knocking door-to-door to get public input. It was important for him to “work collaboratively” with the communities, he said. Both petitions garnered more than 1,000 signatures.

Quinn says he believes there are many more opportunities to make pet resources more equitable on the South Side.

“I believe we’re just touching the surface on the opportunities for collaboration with local veterinarians and with businesses … like pet shops that sell dog food or dog toys,” he said.

Contributing: Alden Loury and Amy Qin, WBEZ

What to do if you have been bitten by a dog

Advice on what to do if you are bitten by a dog

  • Get medical treatment to prevent infection
  • Treatment is also important to document the bite in case the victim decides to bring a claim against the dog owner
  • Victims can file a claim with Animal Control by calling 311 or file a police report at a district station
  • In most cases, a person’s homeowners or renter’s insurance will be responsible for damages
  • If you do not know the owners name, you can consider filing a Doe complaint to try identifying the owner

For more information read: What to do if you’ve been bitten by a dog

The Latest
Caruso has been essential in this team trying to build an identity, and after missing the last two games with a left ankle injury, he returned Thursday. It was short-lived.
Strike-delayed Emmy show is set for Jan. 15, with the Grammys three weeks later
James Soto, 62, and David Ayala, 60, were released Thursday night after a judge vacated their convictions. They were serving life sentences in the 1981 shooting deaths of a Marine and a teen girl in McKinley Park, and were 20 and 18 when they were wrongfully charged.
Morgan Mesi says Breakthru Beverage Illinois denied coverage of a bilateral mastectomy and hormone therapy, according to a complaint filed in federal court Thursday.
Humboldt Park’s Puerto Rican Cultural Center and its partners held a lighting ceremony to kick off a variety of events leading up to Three Kings Day on Jan. 6.