Argentinian soccer star Diego Maradona has had quite a life, including the famous/infamous "hand of God" goal, drug addiction, gastric bypass surgery and a tumultuous coaching career. You can now add "beaten up by a small dog" to that list. Maradona was discharged from a Buenos Aires clinic a couple weeks ago after undergoing recontructive surgery to his upper lip, after being bitten by his pet Shar Pei. It’s not clear exactly what precipitated the bite, but apparently he commonly "gets close" to his dogs before bed. Hopefully Maradona figures out what caused the bite.

Dog bites are surprisingly and disappointingly common.

They are not usually random events.

There’s usually a cause. It might be related to the dog, the person who was bitten, or both. No bite should be considered acceptable, even though bites are common. Every bite should be investigated. Potential inciting factors should be identified and measures should be taken to reduce the risk of this ever happening again. Sometimes, a cause is clear (for example, if a person threatens a dog and it tries to defend itself). At other times, the reason for the bite may not be as obvious. Sometimes, dogs bite for behavioural reasons (e.g. aggression, fear). Sometimes, dogs bite for medical reasons (e.g. pain, decreasing vision). Sometimes, dogs bite because people act inappropriately around them. Differentiating these, and intervening whenever possible, is important and must be considered after any bite.