BOSTON — “Would my dog bite?” A common question many pet owners ask themselves when they hear a story about a dog attack. While there really is no guarantee that your dog will never bite, there are things you can do as a responsible owner to reduce the risks. Minimizing the likelihood of your dog ever biting someone helps protect you, your canine companion and everyone else in the community.

Dog attacks are a nationwide issue and not just a postal problem. Nearly 5,900 letter carriers were attacked last year, but that pales in comparison to the 4.7 million Americans annually bitten by dogs – more than half of whom are children – according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The U.S. Postal Service, the medical community, veterinarians and the insurance industry are working together to educate the public that dog bites are avoidable through responsible pet ownership by declaring May 19-25 as National Dog Bite Prevention Week.

“You may feel confident that your dog won’t add to these statistics, but given the right circumstances, any dog can attack. Many attacks reported by postal workers came from dogs whose owners used those famous last words, ‘my dog won’t bite,’” said Greater Boston Area District Manager Charles Lynch. “Our employees are vigilant and dedicated, but we may be forced to stop mail delivery at an address if a letter carrier is threatened by a vicious dog.”

The Postal Service is not anti-dog, but pro-responsibility. Several of our letter carriers know first-hand about both the prevention and the pain of animal attacks, and we want to do whatever we can to help educate the community – especially parents and dog owners. Here in the Greater Boston area there have been 49 incidents this fiscal year alone. To help prevent future incidents, the Postal Service worked with animal behavior experts to develop tips for avoiding dog attacks, and for dog owners, tips for practicing responsible pet ownership.

How to be a Responsible Dog Owner

• Teach your dog appropriate behavior. Obedience training can teach dogs how to behave and help owners control their dogs in any situation.
• For everyone’s safety, don’t allow your dog to roam.
• When a letter carrier comes to your home, keep your dog inside, away from the door, in another room or on a leash.
• Dogs can be protective of their territory and may interpret the actions of a letter carrier as a threat. Please take precautions when accepting mail in the presence of your pet.
• Dogs that haven’t been properly socialized, receive little attention or handling, or are left tied up for long periods of time frequently turn into biters.

How to Avoid Attacks:

• Don’t run past a dog. The dog’s natural instinct is to chase and catch prey.
• If a dog threatens you, don’t scream. Avoid eye contact. Try to remain motionless until the dog leaves, then back away slowly until the dog is out of sight.
• Don’t approach a strange dog, especially one that’s tethered or confined.
• Always obtain permission from the owner before petting a dog. Let the dog see and sniff you before you pet them.
• If you believe a dog is about to attack you, try to place something between yourself and the dog, such as a backpack or a bicycle.
• If you are knocked down by a dog, curl into a ball and protect your face with your hands.

The Postal Service, www.usps.com; the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), aap.org; the American Humane Association (AHA) americanhumane.org, the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM), microsurg.org; the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), avma.org; the Insurance Information Institute (III), iii.org; State Farm Insurance, statefarm.com; and Prevent The Bite (PTB), preventthebite.org, are driving home the message that dog bites are a nationwide issue and that education can help prevent dog attacks to people of all ages.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 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 $65 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 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. 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 for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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