The US Postal Service is partnering with the PAWS Program to place a dog paw stickers on mailboxes where there is a known dog in the area. Residents will receive a card explaining the program.

National Dog Bite Awareness Week Started yesterday June 14, and the stickers started appearing on June 12th. The stickers do no mean that your dog is a mean dog, just that one dog or more is present normally at this address.

A yellow sticker means a dog lives at the next delivery address and an orange sticker means a dog lives at that address.

Good news is that the USPS is noticing a drop in dog attacks against mail carriers. In 2019, there were more than 5,800 attacks. That was 200 fewer than in 2018. The Postal Service attributes the downward trend to technology and awareness.

From USPS.com:

“Even during these difficult times, it’s important for our customers to understand that letter carriers are still coming to homes daily and need to deliver mail safely,” said USPS Safety Awareness Program Manager Chris Johnson. “We are confident we can keep moving the trends of attacks downward, and ramping up overall awareness for everyone is the best way to do that.”

According to Johnson, technology supports carrier safety in two ways: Mobile Delivery Devices, handheld scanners used by carriers to confirm customer delivery, include a feature to indicate the presence of a dog at an individual address. And the Informed Delivery service alerts customers to mail and packages coming to their homes, allowing them to plan for the carrier’s arrival by securing dogs safely.

The Postal Service offers the following safety tips:

• When a letter 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. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate glass windows to attack visitors.
• Parents should remind children and other family members not to take mail directly from letter carriers in the presence of the family pet. The dog may view the letter carrier handing mail to a family member as a threatening gesture.
• If a letter 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 location or another facility until the letter carrier is assured the pet has been restrained. If the 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 location.

6/15/20 Susan Saunders