Identified Streets of Bronx and Manhattan With Reported Dog Attacks

MANHATTAN, BRONX NY - The U.S. Postal Service is alerting customers to the areas where dog attacks have occurred to mail carriers. This map pins the locations where dog incidents have occurred; showing how extensive the problem of dog attacks are to letter carriers.  According to safety reports NYC has the highest number of dog attacks in the tri-state area.  

Your help is essential to keeping everyone safe and without incident.

From January to March 2015 alone, there are 32 reported dog bites to letter carriers in New York City Districts; up 40 percent from the same time last year.  The number of attacks without recordable injuries – or what the USPS call’s a “near miss” -- is 10 times greater.  These near miss experiences are just as daunting and memorable.  

The American Medicine of Veterinarians Association reports that homeowner insurance claims due to dog bites have gone up more than 50% in the past 10 years. Each dog bite incident cost roughly $28,000 in medical treatments by insurers.  Billions of dollars later, though, does not begin to quantify the harm done by bites from Fife, Princess, Mr. Tiggers, Laddie-Boy and Cuddles — there are 70 million good dogs, but…ANY DOG CAN BITE.

So far, this years dog bite incidents are troubling, as the number of (OSHA) Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported dog attacks and bites among postal employees regularly begin to rise during the months of April, May and June.

Manhattan Postmaster Robert Amendola and Bronx Postmaster Lilliam Rodriguez encourage the news media to share the following preventive tips when reporting on this critical issue:

• If a letter carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog into a separate room and close the door before opening the front door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to get at strangers.

• Dog owners should remind their children about the need to keep the family dog secured. Parents should remind their children not to take mail directly from letter carriers in the presence of the family pet as the dog may see handing mail to a child as a threatening gesture.

• The Postal Service places the safety of its employees as a top priority. If a letter carrier feels threatened by a vicious dog or if a dog is running loose, the owner may be asked to pick up the mail at the Post Office until the carrier is assured the pet has been restrained. If the dog is roaming the neighborhood, the pet owner’s neighbors may be asked to pick up their mail at the Post Office as well.

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