USPS – NBC 7 San Diego

The U.S. Postal Service released a ranking Thursday of which cities had the most dog attacks on postal workers last year. San Diego ranked sixth with 41 recorded attacks.

The rankings were released ahead of the USPS’s 2024 national dog bite awareness campaign, which begins Sunday and raises awareness of the dangers postal workers face when delivering letters near dogs.

According to the USPS, more than 5,800 postal workers in the United States were attacked by dogs last year

In the latest rankings, San Diego had the second most attacks of any California city.

Los Angeles ranked first with 65 attacks. Sacramento ranked 16th with 26 reported attacks, while Long Beach ranked 20th with 19 attacks.

California far outperformed all other states, with a total of 727 attacks reported last year, up from 675 in 2022. Texas came in second with 411 reported attacks, up from 404 the year before.

“Mail carriers face potential dangers every day, and none is as common as encounters with dogs. It only takes one encounter for a mail carrier to potentially get injured,” Leeann Theriault, USPS director of employee safety and health awareness, said in a statement. “The U.S. Postal Service consistently promotes responsible pet ownership. The National Dog Bite Campaign is an effort to raise awareness about dog bites to protect our customers, their dogs and mail carriers while delivering the mail.”

As part of the national dog bite awareness campaign, the USPS will promote ways dog owners can help keep mail carriers safe. The campaign’s motto is “Don’t let your dog bite the hand that serves you.”

USPS officials urged dog owners to keep their animals inside or behind a fence when a mail carrier approaches. The animals should also be kept away from the door or in another room or kept on a leash.

Pet owners are also advised not to let their children accept mail directly from the postman, “as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child.”

The USPS noted that mail carriers are trained on how to respond to potentially threatening situations. They are careful not to frighten dogs, never try to pet or feed them, and never assume that dogs don’t bite.

“Even if a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, he can always have a bad day,” letter carrier Tara Snyder said in a statement. “I know from experience that even if there is a dog in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t force it open and bite the letter carrier.”