Worst Cities In Georgia For Dog Attacks On Postal Workers

ATLANTA, GA — U.S. Postal Service workers went home with fewer dog bites last year, but the overall number remains staggeringly high, according to a new report from the agency. The USPS, which released its findings on Thursday, said there were 6,244 workers attacked by canines across the country, including several in Atlanta and various Georgia cities.

While the overall number may astonish some readers, there were actually 500 fewer attacks than the year before.

The same cannot be said for Atlanta, which earned a spot on the undesirable list, ranking 66th worst in the country with 11 attacks last year, three fewer than 2016. There were a total of 89 workers attacked in Georgia last year, down from 109 in 2016.

Georgia cities with multiple attacks reported last year include:

• Gainesville with 5
• Marietta with 5
• Douglasville with 3
• Alpharetta with 2
• Decatur with 2

But at least we aren’t Houston. Seventy-one Postal Service workers in Houston were attacked last year, and the city managed to leapfrog Los Angeles — which had 67 attacks — to earn the dubious title of worst city in America for dog attacks.

St. Louis, Cleveland and San Diego rounded out the top five with 52, 49 and 46 workers attacked, respectively.

California had the most cities make the list with six, followed by Ohio and Texas, which each had four.

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But the Postal Service is taking an optimistic view of the data. While still very high, the number fell by a not-insignificant amount.

"We're encouraged by the decrease in dog attacks," Postal Service Safety Director Linda DeCarlo said in a release. "The totals are still too high, but we're confident that with continuing education and dog bite prevention training, along with advancing technology, we can keep more people safe and keep attacks trending downward."

DeCarlo said the agency utilizes a safety feature that alerts mail carriers to dogs on their delivery routes. The application asks customers to indicate if they have dogs at their homes when they schedule package pickups. That information is then relayed to carriers on their delivery scanners, which blast alerts if an unleashed dog is reported.

"The scanners that our carriers use to confirm a customer's delivery include a feature for them to indicate the presence of a dog at an individual address," said DeCarlo. "This information is particularly helpful for substitute carriers who fill in for regular carriers on their days off."

DeCarlo also offered some tips to residents with dogs.

• If a carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Some dogs burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to attack visitors. Dog owners should keep the family pet secured.
• Parents should remind their children and other family members not to take mail directly from carriers in the presence of the family pet, as the dog may view the person handing mail to a family member as a threatening gesture.
• If a carrier feels threatened by a dog, or if a dog is loose or unleashed, the owner may be asked to pick up mail at a post office until the carrier is assured the pet has been restrained. If a dog is roaming the neighborhood, the pet owner's neighbors also may be asked to pick up their mail at the area's post office.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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