'Even good dogs have bad days': Think of your mail carrier during Dog Bite Awareness week
NEW JERSEY — More than 5,300 Postal Service employees were attacked by dogs while delivering mail last year, 135 of them in the Garden State.
The United States Postal Service is using National Dog Bite Awareness Week, which kicked off Sunday, to remind dog owners to be good stewards of safe mail delivery.
This year's campaign, which runs through Saturday, has the theme: “Even good dogs have bad days.”
"When letter carriers deliver mail in our communities, dogs that are not secured or leashed can become a nemesis and unpredictable and attack,” said Leeann Theriault, Postal Service employee safety and health awareness manager. “Help us deliver your mail safely by keeping your dog secure and out of the way before your carrier arrives.”
Mail carriers know that all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive, the Postal Service said. Dogs are generally protective of their turf, and dog owners have an important responsibility to control them to ensure safe mail delivery.
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Most are aware of the approximate time their letter carrier arrives every day and should secure their dog before the carrier approaches the property to minimize a potentially dangerous interaction.
When a letter carrier comes to your home, keep dogs:
Inside the house or behind a fence;
Away from the door or in another room; or
On a leash.
Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier, as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child.
“When our mail carriers are bitten, it is usually a ‘good dog’ that had not previously behaved in a menacing way,” said Linda DeCarlo, the Postal Service's occupational safety and health senior director. “In 2022, too many aggressive dogs impacted the lives of our employees while delivering the mail. Please help us reduce that number by being a responsible pet owner who secures their dog as we deliver the mail.”
Letter carriers are trained to observe an area where they know dogs may be present. They are taught to be alert for potentially dangerous conditions and to respect a dog’s territory and are trained not to startle a dog, to keep their eyes on the dog and never to assume one won't bite.
Top 12 dog bite states in 2022:
California - 675 bites
Texas - 404 bites
New York - 321 bites
Pennsylvania - 313 bites
Ohio - 311 bites
Illinois - 245 bites
Florida - 220 bites
Michigan - 206 bites
Missouri - 166 bites
North Carolina - 146 bites
Washington - 136 bites
New Jersey - 134 bites
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: It's Dog Bite Awareness Week: Don't let your dog bite the mail carrier
