LOS ANGELES — A different kind of “chorus line” will be staged in a rather unusual setting on Thursday, May 19, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. at Dockweiler Post Office, 3585 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles CA 90007. It’s all part of the U.S. Postal Service’s annual National Dog Bite Prevention Week program with additional support from Southern California Gas Company.
After telling their stories of dangerous encounters with dogs, letter carriers and a meter reader will line up to show where they’ve been bitten or attacked. They will be joined by USPS Los Angeles Manager Customer Services Lawnet Bates and SoCal Gas Company Vice President Customer Operations Michael Schneider.
Every day, letter carriers, children and the elderly are vulnerable to dog bites and attacks. Los Angeles had 45 documented attacks on letter carriers last year. The cost in pain and suffering is immeasurable. Beyond the pain and suffering caused, medical expenses from dog attacks cost the Postal Service nearly $1.2 million last year. In recent years, a strong emphasis has been placed on educating the public about responsible pet ownership. Dog attacks are a nationwide issue and not just a postal problem, since given the right circumstances, any dog can bite. To spread the word that dog attacks are preventable, USPS is working with the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Other organizations include the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons, the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery, Prevent The Bite, and the Insurance Information Institute.
You can help, too. The most important thing is to restrain your dog, keeping it on a leash, behind a fence or inside. When you see the letter carrier coming down your street, look around and make sure your dog is either inside or securely fenced away from the mailbox.
# # #
Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
