Dog Attacks On Postal Workers On The Rise

By MARC TORRENCE

Fido and the post office haven’t always had the best relationship.

But things are only getting worse.

As online shopping soars in popularity and the United States Postal Service delivers more packages, mail carriers have experienced an increase in dog attacks, according to USPS data.

Last year, 6,549 dog attacks on USPS mail-carriers were reported, a spike of nearly 800 from the year before. In Manassas, there were four attacks in 2015. The city went without any attacks in 2014.

Houston had the most attacks of any city with 77, while San Diego and Cleveland each had 58 attacks.

The USPS defines an “attack” as any time a mail-carrier is harmed or injured by a dog. That can be a scratch, a bite or just a fall suffered running from a charging dog.

The problem, USPS says, stems from pets not being restrained inside the house, roaming free in the yard or even wandering throughout neighborhoods.

“It all boils down to irresponsible pet ownership,” the USPS’ Mark Saunders told Patch. “Every single attack can be avoided.”

The service offered two main tips to keep your local mail-carrier safe:

• When someone comes to the door, put your dog in a separate room and close that door.
• Don’t let a child answer the door in the presence of a family dog. The dog might feel like the child is being threatened and attack.

About 4.5 million dog bites occur in the United States every year, with young children the most at risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And soon, dog bites and attacks could mean no more mail delivery for you or your neighbors.

Starting this spring, USPS employees will be able to report whether there is an aggressive dog at a certain house or a loose dog roaming the neighborhood. If the problem persists, mail delivery to a house or a certain area could stop all together, Boyd said.

“We want to make neighborhoods and communities safe for letter-carriers as they deliver mail,” Mckinney Boyd, a USPS spokesman in Texas, told Patch. “It is not an indictment on their pets. We all have pets. We just want them to better restrain their pets.”

• See a list of the top 51 cities for dog attacks in 2015 here.