Nearly 6,000 postal carriers were attacked by dogs in 2020, USPS says
If you thought 2020 was bad, it was even worse for letter carriers.
With National Dog Bite Awareness Week having begun on Saturday and continuing through to June 18, the United States Postal Service released its annual report about how many of their employees were attacked by dogs.
“From nips and bites to vicious attacks, aggressive dog behavior poses a serious threat to postal employees and the general public,” the USPS said in a statement.
As part of their announcement, the Postal Services shared which cities and states ranked with Houston taking the top spot amongst cities with the most attacks with 73, and California in the state category with 782 incidents.
New York City was not in the top 10, but New York State ranked fourth in the nation with 295 attacks reported.
There was no criteria in what consisted an attack, according to a spokesman who spoke to USA Today. Postal workers who submitted an injury claim to their supervisor or reported a dog attack were the only consideration.
While there was no data on what type of dog did the most attacking, the Postal Service said that the lockdown restrictions left more opportunities for interactions between letter carriers and man’s best friend.
“Raising awareness about dog bite prevention and how to protect our letter carriers as we deliver the mail is paramount,” said United States Postal Service Acting Employee Safety and Health Awareness manager Jamie Seavello in a statement. “Dogs are instinctive animals that may act to protect their turf and that why’s it’s important to inform the public about this campaign.”
In addition to encouraging dog owners to take certain steps to reduce the amount of attacks on mail carriers, the Postal Service also trains its employees on how to deal with instances of dog attacks in the seemingly likely event that they take place.
