With Dog Bites Rising, USPS Preps W.Va. Mail Carriers For Risks

This year, the number of dog bites on mail carriers in West Virginia and Kentucky is on the rise, according to Alan Lewis, United States Postal Service (USPS) safety manager for the two states.

The states reported 113 dog bites last fiscal year, which ended in September 2023. This fiscal year, that number has risen to 119, with more than a month to go.

“I need the customers to know that we’re providing a service for them,” Lewis said. “The only way we can provide that service is to be safe.”

For USPS, part of keeping workers safe is training them for the reality of encountering aggressive pets on their delivery routes.

This week, USPS brought trainer Hector Hernandez and his dog Chankla to post offices across the Mountain State to teach them the best practices for handling dogs.

During a Wednesday training session in Martinsburg, tens of Berkeley County mail carriers recounted experiences of being chased or bitten by aggressive dogs.

Robert Miller, a rural mail carrier who delivers to the greater Martinsburg community, said he’s been bit by three separate dogs at three separate households.

“No matter how much you train or try to prepare yourself, what I’ve learned from this experience is it happens so quick,” he said. “Most of the time you don’t have time to think.”

But Hernandez said it is important for mail carriers not to panic and take steps to keep themselves safe.

This includes not turning one’s back to an angry dog or putting an alternative item — like a hat or carrier bag — in their face to bite instead. As a last resort, mail carriers are also equipped with pepper spray and horns, which can be used to scare a dog away.

Still, Hernandez said the issue often does not end with a dog. Pet owners, even those who let their dogs out unsupervised, can be protective over their animals, and even hostile to mail carriers who take steps to keep themselves safe.

During the training, Hernandez showed several videos of mail carriers getting violently confronted by residents for warding off angry dogs, even as they attempted to bite the workers.

Hernandez said mail carriers should not engage in altercations with residents, keep distance from angry pet owners and contact their supervisor or animal control to report instances where they feel unsafe.

“If ever you have to use pepper spray, make sure you have the supervisor, animal control or the police make contact with the owner so they do not retaliate against you,” he said. “That’s number one issue.”

Ultimately, Hernandez said it can be hard to train mail carriers for every possibility out there. Residents can own multiple dogs, or even be away from their homes when their dogs attack.

He said the most effective way to prevent injuries like these is by requiring residents to be more responsible over their pets. And, when a moral responsibility does not change a resident’s behavior, being notified of their legal liability in the event of a dog bite can also be effective.

“We have to manage and control them for the safety of not just the letter carriers, [but for] anyone who can go onto their property without permission — utility workers, police,” he said.