Dallas and Fort Worth rank on the USPS list of cities with the most dog attacks on mail carriers

For at least 86 years The Dallas Morning News printed a similar story.

In 1938, the newspaper reported that a post office manager wanted to stop mail service in homes with vicious dogs. Two or three United State Postal Service letter carriers were bitten each week, he said. To support his argument, he cited a case in which a letter carrier had died from an infection caused by a dog bite.

In 1967 The news spoke with Don R. Antoniello, who had the “dubious honor” of being the 84th mail carrier attacked or bitten in Dallas last year. Between July 1974 and June 1975, 61 mail carriers were bitten, according to the newspaper. In 1982, mail carrier Kathy Delmar was bitten by a dog, and her story made the front page of the Metro section.

In 1995, dogs bit postal workers Vangie Navarro and Don Doherty. In 1997, an unidentified Fort Worth mail carrier was bitten. The pages of The news in the 2000s and 2010s report similar anecdotes.

But data from 2023 shows that parts of North Texas are still facing the same problem after all these years.

According to the USPS, the Dallas-Fort Worth area was one of the most dangerous areas in the state for mail carriers when it came to dog attacks last year. Dallas had the second most attacks or bites on mail carriers by dogs in the state, with Fort Worth coming in fourth. The two cities saw 39 and 23 attacks or bites, respectively.

“That’s their biggest threat … since there have been letter carriers. That hasn’t changed,” said Kimetra Lewis, president of the Dallas branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “Today we have to be more aware of other things, but dog bites are simply the biggest threat.”

Do not bite the hand that serves you

In early June, the USPS hosted its 2024 National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign. The Postal Service runs a similar campaign every year to educate dog owners and promote safe interactions between dogs and postal workers, said Lecia Hall, a USPS strategic communications specialist in Plano.

“Dog owners can help protect the mail carriers,” Hall said. “Our (campaign) this year was, ‘Don’t let your dog bite the hand that serves you,’ you know, and the mail carriers are the people who are out there serving the customers.”

In 2023, there were more than 5,800 dog attacks on postal workers nationwide. which is an increase from the previous year. Of these, 411 occurred in Texas. Four Texas cities are on the USPS’s list of the top 20 cities with the most dog attacks on mail carriers. According to a letter to the editor from Dallas Postmaster Daniel Reyes III, dogs bit an average of 15 mail carriers each day.

The USPS began an awareness campaign against dog bites in the mid-1980s. Dallas Morning News Article dated June 19, 1995. Around the time the campaign began, the service was counting 7,000 bites or attacks each year, the article said.

Both domestic and stray dogs can pose a threat, but Lewis said stray dogs are more likely to attack mail carriers.

Stray dogs are more common in certain parts of the city, such as south Dallas, Lewis said. Mail carriers are advised to call the city’s Animal Control Department at 311 to report stray or lost dogs. Lewis said Animal Control needs to spend more time on the streets looking for stray dogs.

Marlo Clingman, marketing coordinator for Dallas Animal Services, said there are 41 animal control officer positions in the city, but five of them are currently vacant.

The organization uses data from phone calls, online forms and an app to set up patrols in certain areas based on the number of reports, she said. Animal control authorities would then round up those dogs all at once.

In May, the animal protection agency received around 7,000 calls and took in 1,487 lost dogs, she said.

While Clingman declined to comment on whether she believes an increased animal control presence would reduce the number of stray dogs, she said people should call animal control at the city’s 311 number if they see a lost dog. The city has also conducted a lost dog survey that runs through the end of July, she said.

Although these stray dogs pose a greater threat to mail carriers, Lewis said, domestic dogs can still be problematic.

“I think dog owners are very careless and don’t make sure that dogs are properly confined,” said Lewis. “I’m a dog owner and I don’t believe in tying dogs in the yard with a rope or anything like that, but I do think that customers should be made more aware that dogs are confined.”

How to prevent stings and what to do if it happens

As part of its annual campaign, the USPS highlights steps dog owners and postal workers can take to prevent dog bites. Owners should keep their dogs behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash, the USPS said in its press release. Pet owners should remind children not to accept mail directly from the mail carrier, as the dog may view the mail carrier as a threat to the child.

Should a dog attack, mail carriers are trained to stand firm and protect their bodies by placing something between themselves and the dog, such as their wallet. If necessary, mail carriers use a dog repellent.

However, if a mail carrier believes their safety is at risk, they may prohibit delivery in certain parts of a neighborhood until the dog is deemed safe. In these cases, mail must be picked up at the local post office.

If a mail carrier is bitten by a dog, the postal service is required to continue paying the injured worker’s wages for 45 days after the injury, Lewis said.

According to Brad Parker, a Bedford attorney who has practiced personal injury law for nearly 40 years, they can also seek state workers’ compensation after a workplace accident. They can also sue a third party – the dog owner – for the injury.

“One of the things we really focus on in these cases is the fear, the sheer panic of being attacked by a dog,” Parker said.

According to the most recent information available from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555. If a postal worker suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for the employee’s medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs and pain and suffering, the USPS said.

“I’m grateful that (the Postal Service) takes the time to talk to mail carriers, have safety talks and give them advice on how to avoid attacks and what to do if they are attacked by a dog,” Lewis said.