NYTimes: We trip over them. We take them out for walks and get dragged and pulled. We fall while chasing them. Sometimes we trip over a water bowl or a chew toy left on the floor.

Dogs and cats cause more than 86,000 falls requiring emergency room care each year, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that may be among the first of its kind. That translates into about 240 people who are treated for injuries caused by pets every single day in the United States, the study found.

Cats are involved in some of the falls, but dogs -- man's best friend -- are the real culprits, responsible for seven times as many injuries as cats, often while they're being walked, the report found.

And though more pet-related falls occurred among children and adults in mid-life, elderly people were most likely to break a bone, which can have serious long-term consequences, said Dr. Judy Stevens, the C.D.C. epidemiologist who wrote the report. Women were at more than double the risk for injuries than men.

"We wanted to people to realize that while pets have many benefits, health-wise and emotionally, they can also be a fall hazard," said Dr. Stevens, who added that obedience training may help. The study appears this week in the agency's Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report.