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Louisville mail carriers experienced 34 dog attacks in 2020. Here's how you can help

In 2016, a dog attacked Sandra Brice while she was on her mail route. She not was not only hut physically, but mentally too.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Letter carriers work through the rain, snow and heat to get people mail. But they won’t deliver mail if there is an aggressive dog that puts their safety in danger.

On the final day of Dog Bite Awareness Week, the Pleasure Ridge Park post office held an event to remind workers about the importance of dog bite prevention.

There were more than 5,800 dog incidents last year across the country. Louisville letters carriers experienced 34 dog attacks in 2020. There have been 216 dog bites over the past 5 years, or one dog bite every 9.57 days.

In 2016 letter carrier Sandra Brice walked up to her customer’s house to deliver the mail. When she turned around to leave, she heard the door open and a dog growling.

“It just happened it seemed like in a matter of seconds,” Brice said. “I had no time to even really react, so the dog attacked me.”

The owner got the dog off of Brice, but not before it bit her leg, leaving not only physical damage, but psychological damage too.

“The mental part of it is the worst of all because that’s the hardest part to get over,” Brice said.

Brice still works for USPS, but not as a letter carrier. Her worst fears came true that day in 2016, and she says now she can’t even go back in the field.

Dogs can see someone who is giving their owner mail as a threat, so even if you have a small dog, be careful.

“All dogs bite. If they have teeth they bite,” Acting Louisville Postmaster Chris Carroll said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a small dog or a large dog. Dogs are territorial and they want to protect their property and their owners.”

If you have a dog, there are some good ways to prevent dog bite injuries to your letter carrier.

If a carrier delivers to your front door, put your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening your front door. To clarify what time to restrain your dog, USPS allows people to track mail.

Even if you have an electric fence, keep your dog inside or restrained when the mail is coming. The carrier often has to enter your property and an unrestrained dog poses a threat to carrier safety.

Carroll advised his letter carriers to suspend delivery on three conditions if they have a dog situation: calling animal control or 911 depending on the severity, calling the carrier’s local manager, and making scans for any packages so USPS can notify customers why they did not receive a delivery.

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