The U.S. Postal Service says Columbus had the 10th most dog attacks on postal workers last year out of any U.S. city.
The mail agency said in a news release that dog attacks rose nationally by 5,800 cases last year. In Columbus, there were 33 dog attacks on postal workers in 2023.
Cincinnati ranked as the 8th highest city with 38 dog attacks and Cleveland ranked 5th with 44 dog attacks. The state as a whole ranked 3rd out of the 50 states for dog attacks with 311 total.
California and Texas were the top two states for dog bites. Only Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and St. Louis ranked above Cleveland in the list of cities.
In 2022, Cleveland ranked as the number 1 city for dog bites. Columbus ranked as the 11th and Cincinnati ranked as 17th.
The Postal Service is trying to cut down on dog attacks through its yearly National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign. This year's campaign theme is called "Don’t let your dog bite the hand that serves you."
“Letter carriers are exposed to potential hazards every day, none more prevalent than a canine encounter. All it takes is one interaction for a letter carrier to possibly suffer an injury,” USPS Manager, Employee Safety and Health Awareness Leeann Theriault, said.
Theriault said USPS encourages responsible pet ownership and this effort is trying to up awareness to keep customers, their dogs and letter carriers safe.
USPS said Most people know the approximate time their letter carrier arrives every day so they should take action to secure their dog beforehand. The mail agency said pet owners should also remind children not to take mail directly from a postal workers because a dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child.
The mail agency suggests keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room; or on a leash.
USPS said according to the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555. The mail agency said when a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee.
USPS said when a carrier feels unsafe, mail service can be stopped. USPS said until the carrier feels safe enough to restart delivery the mail will have to be picked up at the dog owner’s local Post Office.
