Post office issues plea after 2 carriers injured in dog bite attacks

CASPAR, Wyo. – The U.S. Postal Service is asking dog owners to restrain their dogs following attacks on two mail carriers.

The first attack happened October 30. A carrier who was coming up to the porch of a home was attacked by a dog that jumped through a screen door. The carrier had to have 27 stitches.

On October 31, the USPS says another carrier had just finished making a delivery when a dog jumped a fence and attacked her from behind. According to the post office, both carriers will be out of work for awhile.

"Incidents like this could have been prevented with those dog owners taking more responsibility for keeping their dogs secure and under safe control," acting Casper postmaster Mike Kelly said in a statement. "Our letter carriers are very safety conscious and do a great job. They are instructed to not deliver to any address where their safety is threatened by a loose dog. When they are surprised like this, all they can do is try to defend themselves."

According to statistics provided by the post office, the Casper location has had 14 dog bite injuries this year.

Between Wyoming and Colorado, there have been 99 dog bite injuries this year. Denver, Colorado Springs, Westminster and Pueblo all report multiple dog bite injuries.

Depending on how serious the injury is, failure to restrain dogs on a regular basis can result in a temporary stoppage of mail delivery to your home and mailbox, and potentially the whole block, street or neighborhood.