COLORADO – Over 5,500 U.S. postal employees were attacked by dogs nationwide in 2018- that’s more than 1,000 fewer attacks since 2016.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) released a list of cities and states ranking them by the number of dog attacks on postal workers in the past few years.
Colorado did not make the top ten list of states with the most dog attacks.
However, Denver did make the top 20 list of cities, tying with Baltimore and Kansas City at number 15 for dog attacks on mail carriers.
Colorado Springs and Pueblo did not make any list but did have a handful of attacks in the past few years.
The top 20 list is comprised of 29 cities, as some cities reported the same number of attacks.
Houston, Texas ranked number one with 75 dog attacks on mail carriers last year.
California came in first on the list of top ten states with nearly 800 dog attacks on mail carriers in 2018.
Even with fewer dog attacks, USPS uses technology that helps limit potential attacks.
According to the USPS Safety Director, Mobile Delivery Devices, or scanners, include a feature that detects the presence of a dog at an address.
The Package Pickup application asks customers to indicate if dogs are at their address to alert mail carriers beforehand.
USPS offered these tips to keep everyone safe:
- If you’re expected a package, put your dog in another room and close the door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate glass windows to attack visitors.
- Don’t take mail directly from carriers in the presence of a family pet. The dog may view this as a threatening gesture.
- If a mail carrier feels threatened by a dog or it is unleashed, the mail carrier may ask the owner to pick up their mail at a Post Office.
