When a carrier feels unsafe, mail service can be halted for an entire neighborhood. Image: N K/Shutterstock.com
Aggressive behavior by dogs is “a common safety concern USPS employees face” with more than 5,300 such attacks last year, about the same as in 2021, the USPS has said.
“Many attacks reported by letter carriers came from dogs whose owners regularly stated, “My dog won’t bite.” Dog bites are entirely preventable. One bite is one too many,” it said.
The cities with the most dog attacks were Houston, Los Angeles, Dallas and Cleveland, the same order as in 2021; by state the most were in California, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania, with increases over 2021 in each.
It noted that carriers are trained to be alert for dogs and to take precautions such as not startling them, but that owners are responsible for controlling them, for example by securing them at the time of day when mail typically arrives.
“When a carrier feels unsafe, mail service could be halted — not only for the dog owner, but for the entire neighborhood. When mail service is stopped, mail must be picked up at the post office. Service will not be restored until the aggressive dog is properly restrained,” it said.
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