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Dear Editor,
Your Postal Service carrier takes pride in delivering mail promptly and efficiently. That means being able to approach every mailbox without interference from pets.
In the St. James community, the postal letter carriers have been bitten and/or threatened over 15 times this spring by dogs. The incidents range from a dog tied up too close to the mailbox or sidewalk and coming within inches of where the carrier is walking; dogs not on a leash and coming at the carrier with teeth bared and the carrier having to use a satchel for protection or run into someone’s house for safety; to an actual bite (whether it be the pants leg of their uniform or skin).
While some attribute attacks on letter carriers to dogs’ inbred aversion to uniforms, experts say the psychology actually runs much deeper. Every day that a letter carrier comes into a dog’s territory, the dog barks and the letter carrier leaves. Day after day the dog sees this action repeated. After a week or two, the dog appears to feel invincible against intruders. Once the dog gets loose, there’s a good chance it will attack.
The United States Postal Service has a policy on employees threatened by animals. The day of the first incident, your mail will not be delivered and will be brought back to the Post Office. The next delivery day (if possible) you will receive your mail along with a letter from the Postal Service explaining that your animal has threatened the carrier. The second time the dog is threatening, the carrier will bring back your mail and you will be required to pick the mail up at the post office. At this time, you will have to sign a statement agreeing to keep your animal restrained. The third time, you will have a choice of either placing a mail receptacle at the curb or renting a Post Office Box at the post office to receive your mail. If this does not resolve the problem, we will have to have every house on your block and on the block across from your residence/building place their mailboxes at the curb so the carrier does not have to leave the vehicle to deliver mail.
We can’t control people’s dogs; only dog owners can do that. To provide you with uninterrupted mail delivery while protecting our carriers, the Postal Service is requesting your assistance. Please confine your dog, either in the house or tethered or fenced outdoors, away from the route your carrier uses to deliver your mail.
We appreciate your cooperation
Karen L. Walter, Postmaster
St. James, MN 56081
Dear Editor,
Your Postal Service carrier takes pride in delivering mail promptly and efficiently. That means being able to approach every mailbox without interference from pets.
In the St. James community, the postal letter carriers have been bitten and/or threatened over 15 times this spring by dogs. The incidents range from a dog tied up too close to the mailbox or sidewalk and coming within inches of where the carrier is walking; dogs not on a leash and coming at the carrier with teeth bared and the carrier having to use a satchel for protection or run into someone’s house for safety; to an actual bite (whether it be the pants leg of their uniform or skin).
While some attribute attacks on letter carriers to dogs’ inbred aversion to uniforms, experts say the psychology actually runs much deeper. Every day that a letter carrier comes into a dog’s territory, the dog barks and the letter carrier leaves. Day after day the dog sees this action repeated. After a week or two, the dog appears to feel invincible against intruders. Once the dog gets loose, there’s a good chance it will attack.
The United States Postal Service has a policy on employees threatened by animals. The day of the first incident, your mail will not be delivered and will be brought back to the Post Office. The next delivery day (if possible) you will receive your mail along with a letter from the Postal Service explaining that your animal has threatened the carrier. The second time the dog is threatening, the carrier will bring back your mail and you will be required to pick the mail up at the post office. At this time, you will have to sign a statement agreeing to keep your animal restrained. The third time, you will have a choice of either placing a mail receptacle at the curb or renting a Post Office Box at the post office to receive your mail. If this does not resolve the problem, we will have to have every house on your block and on the block across from your residence/building place their mailboxes at the curb so the carrier does not have to leave the vehicle to deliver mail.
We can’t control people’s dogs; only dog owners can do that. To provide you with uninterrupted mail delivery while protecting our carriers, the Postal Service is requesting your assistance. Please confine your dog, either in the house or tethered or fenced outdoors, away from the route your carrier uses to deliver your mail.
We appreciate your cooperation
Karen L. Walter, Postmaster
St. James, MN 56081
