SPOKANE, Wash. – The United States Postal Services(USPS) sponsored the National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign from June 2 to 9 to raise awareness on how pet owners can prevent these kinds of attacks.
The city of Spokane had 10 dog attacks on postal employees last year, down from 13 attacks in 2022, according to the USPS.
Curt Rein has been a mail carrier for USPS for 18 years and said that if a dog is in the yard, they won’t enter the property to deliver the mail.
“For safety protocol, we are not supposed to enter the yard or go anywhere near where a dog can get us,” Rein said.
Rein was attacked and bit in the leg years ago but said that the USPS is very supportive of dogs. He said that, like humans, dogs can just have bad days. He said the best solution is to keep the dog inside, away from the door, during a delivery.
“The best thing is during normal mail delivery hours, from about 8:30 to 5, just have the door shut, have the dog inside, or at least keep an eye out, you know, checking to see if a mail carrier is on your street,” Rein said.
The USPS said there were 5,800 dog attacks on postal employees last year, with Los Angeles being the number one city for attacks with 65.
To ensure the safety of employees, mail carriers shake the fence so any dog in the yard is aware of the carrier.
Preventing these attacks can also save the pet owner a costly bill, as the financial burden can fall on the homeowner after an attack, said Kim Frum, spokesperson for the USPS.
“Replacing uniforms, time off, all that kind of stuff, that could all fall on the homeowners responsibility, and according to the insurance institute, on average it’s about $60,000 or more,” Frum said.
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