DETROIT, MI — While the wound has healed, Letter Carrier Shawn Ruston, Lincoln Park, MI Post Office, still remembers vividly when a dog on his route ran out the front door and bit him on his wrist.

“I was wearing gloves and the dog bit right through the glove,” says Ruston. “I’ve been a letter carrier for 20 years and was attacked by a dog eight times with three serious incidents where I needed to go to the hospital for stitches. Customers don’t realize their dog can bite. I tell my customers, the dog is only doing its job to protect the family while I’m trying to do my job to deliver the mail.”

Ruston still delivers mail with a renewed sense of awareness. “I’m always looking ahead and checking where the dogs are on my route. Many of my customers are helpful by securing their doors or placing their dogs in another room when I deliver to their home,” he said.

Every bite is time out of work for the letter carriers, but the Detroit District, in line with the national trend, is seeing a continuing decline in dog bite attacks.

In 2019, the number of USPS employees attacked by dogs nationwide fell to 5,803 in 2019 — more than 200 fewer than in 2018 and more than 400 fewer since 2017.

USPS highlights technology that helps reduce potential attacks, while releasing its annual list of cities with the most recorded dog attacks. The organization also highlights safety initiatives to help protect its employees and offers tips to pet owners as part of the Postal Service’s National Dog Bite Awareness Week, which runs Sunday, June 14, through Saturday, June 20.

“Even during these difficult times, it’s important for our customers to understand that letter carriers are still coming to homes daily and need to deliver mail safely,” said USPS Safety Awareness Program Manager Chris Johnson. “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.”

Tips and Technology

According to Johnson, technology supports carrier safety in two ways: Mobile Delivery Devices, handheld scanners used by carriers to confirm customer delivery, include a feature to indicate the presence of a dog at an individual address. And the Informed Delivery service alerts customers to mail and packages coming to their homes, allowing them to plan for the carrier’s arrival by securing dogs safely.

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 location 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 the area’s Post Office location.

2019 Dog Attack Rankings by City
A total of 5,803 USPS employees were attacked by dogs in 2019. The top 20 rankings comprise 30 cities, as some cities reported the same number of attacks:

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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