CHICAGO — Chicago had one less dog bite attack to letter carriers in 2018 but is still in the top 10 nationwide with 37 dog attacks last year, according to the U.S. Postal Service’s annual list of cities with the most recorded dog attacks.

Reflecting a downward trend, the number of postal employees attacked by dogs nationwide fell to 5,714 in 2018 — more than 500 fewer than in 2017 and more than 1,000 fewer since 2016.  Chicago was #8 on the list behind Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Dallas, San Antonio and Minneapolis.

National Dog Bite Prevention Week runs from Sunday, April 14, through Saturday, April 20. Postal Service technology has been a likely factor in helping to reduce potential attacks.  This includes Mobile Delivery Devices, or scanners, used by carriers to confirm customer delivery, and includes a feature to indicate the presence of a dog at an individual address.  Another is the Package Pickup application which asks customers to indicate if dogs are at their address when they schedule package pickups, which allows USPS to send alerts to those carriers.

“Our employees have been great at taking preventative measures against dog attacks, but they need help from our customers too,” said Chicago Postmaster, Wanda Prater. “We are confident we can keep moving the trends of attacks downward, and ramping up overall awareness for everyone is the best way to do that.  We very much appreciate that more customers are keeping their dogs confined when the letter carrier is delivering mail.”

The Postal Service offers the following safety tips:

• When a letter carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate glass windows to attack visitors.
• Parents should remind children and other family members not to take mail directly from letter carriers in the presence of the family pet. The dog may view the letter carrier handing mail to a family member as a threatening gesture.
• If a letter carrier feels threatened by a dog, or if a dog is loose or unleashed, the owner may be asked to pick up mail at a Post Office or another facility until the letter carrier is assured the pet has been restrained. If the dog is roaming the neighborhood, the pet owner’s neighbors also may be asked to pick up their mail at their local Post Office.

2018 Dog Attack Rankings by City
A total of 5,714 postal employees were attacked by dogs in 2018. The top 20 rankings are comprised of 29 cities, as some cities reported the same number of attacks:

 

National Dog Bite Prevention Week is a registered trademark of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

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