Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 28, 1994 TAG: 9406300053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
R.H.M., Roanoke A: The businesses don't know why, either. Most of them haven't thought much about displaying their building number.
Several small-businesspeople I checked with said they wished others would do it, so they could find each other.
It's important, too, because many small businesses don't last long enough to become known by their location.
The Williamson Road Area Business Association has given a committee the task of producing a uniform style of number that everyone could use, said Linwood Locklear, first vice president. He said he'd bring it up again.
Suburban businesses in the city aren't required to show their number unless they're in a new building. Many downtown locations do it, and all county businesses are required by ordinance to post a number.
When the 911 emergency system was put in, Roanoke required residences to display a number. Existing business structures were exempted.
Bob Agnor of the city's communications department said the absence of numbers is sometimes a problem for ambulances trying to find a location, and a letter is sent to these places asking them to post a number.
Dog-bite study
Q: A federal study reported in the newspaper recently listed which dogs are most apt to bite and which are least likely to bite. Who proposed this study, who approved it, how much did it cost and what was the purpose?
C.K., Roanoke A: That study was proposed by Dr. Jeffrey Sacks, a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. It's his job to look at frequent injury problems and ways to prevent them.
There was no special funding for the study. It was within the normal working assignment of Sacks and Dr. Kenneth Gershman, with whom Sacks collaborated.
Sacks said the purpose was to prevent dog bites, especially to children.
He doesn't argue with people who say a dog's temperament is largely determined by the way people treat it.
Instead, Sacks makes the point that it takes several years to teach children the proper way to behave around a dog.
His conclusion is that identifying the breeds most likely to bite will help people make better choices of which dogs to own.
The study found German shepherds and chow chows bit most often. Those that bit least were golden retrievers and standard poodles. Other frequent biters: male and unneutered dogs.
Sacks said he grew up around dogs and would love to own one, but "my kids are too young to be responsible around a dog."
Dog bites occur 585,000 times a year-one per minute-and cause 20 fatalities, two-thirds of them to children under 10.
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by CNB