This section offers materials for you to use to help your letter carriers do their jobs more safely. You can use the progressive warning letters to alert dog owners to the possible loss of mail delivery if they do not restrain their pets. Additionally don’t forget to send a letter of thanks when they do!
Warning letters, like collection letters, need to be handled tactfully. The first and second sample letters on the Web site tell customers what we want them to do. The third tells them we have taken corrective steps. The fourth and fifth letters detail the customers’ options. In using these letters, keep in mind that our purpose is not to police the neighborhood but to obtain a safe environment in which carriers can do their work. Though most customers will respond to your first polite request, be meticulous in following up if they don’t. Otherwise, your efforts will not be taken seriously.
Samples of these letters can be found on the Web site at http://safetytoolkit.usps.gov/Resources:
The availability and use of the repellent does NOT replace the policy of nondelivery of mail where there is animal interference!
Collection and delivery service personnel are to report the name and address of the customer where such interference occurs to the postmaster or authorized supervisor who must immediately telephone the customer and request that the animal be confined during the usual delivery hours in the neighborhood. The postmaster or authorized supervisor must further inform the customer that (1) no deliveries will be made until this is done, and (2) service will be restored upon assurance that the animal will be confined.
It is the dog owner’s responsibility to control the dog. Most communities have ordinances for the control of dogs. In spite of the fact that postmasters have frequently requested customers to control their dogs, and have discontinued service to control this problem, injuries still continue.
