Dogs do not appreciate the ethics of working as a mail carrier.
That may be why more than 5,800 cases of dog bites were reported against mail carriers last year, the U.S. Postal Service reported during its annual Dog Bite Awareness Week. Nationwide, Los Angeles had 65 dog bite cases reported.
Mail carrier Holly Ahlborn (right) holds a stuffed dog on a stick during a demonstration at the Long Beach Post Office during the United States Postal Service’s dog bite awareness campaign on Tuesday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Mail carrier Holly Ahlborn can understand why dogs become defensive. She said walking the mail route brings a kind of excited energy, and dogs are sensitive to a person’s emotions. To a dog, the mail carrier can appear as a frantic or anxious person when they attempt to walk into the dog’s territory.
“Dogs can sense that aura when we’re trying to do our job,” Ahlborn said outside the downtown Long Beach post office. There were 19 reported dog bites in Long Beach last year, or about 1 every 15 days for postal carriers on the job.
On a recent morning, more than 40 mail carriers gathered on the post office loading dock for their daily stand-up meeting. The group watched a safety demonstration that explained what to do if they encounter a dog.
Postal carrier Michael Bereal Jr. explained to his co-workers that they should jingle their keys or shake the fence to let a dog know they were nearby. Ahlborn stood nearby, holding a plush dog on the end of a long stick.
“The best way to prevent dog attacks is to avoid situations that prompt aggression,” Beriel said.
If that doesn’t work, postal carriers can place their mail bags between themselves and the dog. As a last resort, if it seems like danger is imminent, postal carriers can use an irritant spray. The plush dog reared up as Ahlborn barked and Barial pretended to spray him to control him.
Mail carrier Holly Ahlborn picks up a plush dog at the Long Beach post office during the United States Postal Service’s dog bite awareness campaign on Tuesday.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
As the summer holidays approach, mail carriers are reminded that the children at home may not know how their pet dog will react to the mail carrier’s visit.
“It’s literally true: Dogs hate letter carriers,” Bereal said, laughing.
Although he has never been bitten on the job, he has had a few near misses. For example, he once jumped onto the roof of a car to avoid being tackled by a large Mastiff mix that had jumped over a waist-high fence. The animal’s owner had just told him the dog was friendly.
Ahlborn said that’s usually how things go. Owners explain that their pets are an exception. “But their ‘fur baby’ attacks us in the presence of the mailman,” Ahlborn said with a laugh.
The USPS did not provide any detailed data about the 5,800 reported dog bites, such as a breakdown of the bites by breed or the severity of the wounds. The ranking of cities also only looked at the total number of bites, not the average number of bites per carrier in that city.
Houston trails Los Angeles in total number of cases with 56, and Chicago is third with 48.
Long Beach mail carrier Mimi Ritz bears a scar above her right ankle from a dog bite she suffered last January.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
The theme of the Postal Service’s dog bite awareness campaign is, “Don’t let your dog bite the hand that serves you.”
The Postal Service wants its customers to know that even though dogs are part of their family, they still have teeth and probably don’t understand the concept of mail delivery.
Internal text messages between carriers may warn about dogs on the mail route, but some dogs still fly under the radar.
For example, Bereal reported that while he was delivering mail at the office, two small-sized dogs sneaked up to him, but they only bit his legs.
Mailman Mimi Ritz didn’t see the dog that had clawed her leg before it was too late. She walked into a yard, and as she was leaving the dog came up from behind, bit her calf and knocked her to the ground.
“I’m laying on my back and this dog is looking at me,” Ritz said. “All that was going through my mind was that I was going to get stabbed in the neck.”
He tried to protect himself with his bag, but the scaly monster pulled it away.
Ritz was about to use her irritant spray when a person living on the property heard the noise and dragged the dog away. Ritz called 911 and paramedics treated the deep wound on her leg. She was given a tetanus injection at the hospital several hours after the attack.
Her primary care physician ordered her to take two weeks off to recover. When she returned to work, she drove back along her route, including to the house where the attack occurred. However, this time the mailbox had been moved to the front of the property. She did not see the dog.
He asked a person living in the house, “What happened to the dog?”
It turned out the dog had been kept at a shelter for several days, but eventually returned home.
Despite the attack, it was a relief for Ritz. She said if things had been worse for the dog, “my heart would have broken.”
