Protect the Community
By Steve Adler, Postmaster/OIC Plano

Plano TX:  Last year, nearly 5,700 letter carriers were attacked nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that a dog bites nearly 2 percent of the American population each year, and most of the victims are children. The most recent statistics from the 2007 U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook states that there are 72,114,000 dogs in the United States; 43,021,000 households own dogs in the U.S., and that equates to 37.2 percent of households. Clearly, parents must never leave a defenseless infant with a dog and must make sure that older children know the potential danger of dog attacks.

It is also important to know that studies have shown that dogs are three times more likely to be involved in a biting incident if they have not been spayed or neutered. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has found that the breed of animal most commonly involved in dog attacks can change from year to year and from one part of the country to another, depending on the popularity of the breed. According to the HSUS, while some breeds are more likely to bite, other factors like whether the animal has been spayed or neutered, and whether the animal has been properly socialized, safely confined, properly supervised, and humanely trained.

All of these preventative measures play great a role in a dog’s tendency to bite. Dog owners can prevent serious injuries to others by realizing their important role in dog bite prevention.

To spread the word that dog attacks are preventable, the Postal Service is working with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) www.aap.org, American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) www.avma.org, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) www.plasticsurgery.org. Other organizations include the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons (ASMS) www.maxface.org, the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM) www.microsurg.org, Prevent The Bite www.preventthebite.org and the Insurance Information Institute www.iii.org.

The AVMA offers the following tips:

How to Avoid Being Bitten
• Don’t run past a dog. The dog’s natural instinct is to chase and catch you.
• If a dog threatens you, don’t scream. Avoid eye contact. Try to remain motionless until the dog leaves, then back away slowly until the dog is out of sight.
• Don’t approach a strange dog, especially one that’s tethered or confined.
• People choosing to pet dogs should obtain permission from the owner first and always let a dog see and sniff them before petting the animal.
• If you believe a dog is about to attack you, try to place something between yourself and the dog, such as a backpack or a bicycle.
How to Be a Responsible Dog Owner
• Obedience training can teach dog’s proper behavior and help owners control their dogs.
• When a carrier comes to your home, keep your dog inside, away from the door in another room.
• Dogs can be protective of their territory and may interpret the actions of letter carriers as a threat. Please take precautions when accepting mail in the presence of your pet.
• Spay or neuter your dog. Neutered dogs are less likely to roam and bite.
• Dogs that receive little attention or handling, or are left tied up for long periods of time, frequently turn into biters.

Loose Dogs Halt Delivery, Possibly Cause Trauma
The Postal Service places the safety of its employees as a top priority. Letter carriers fearing for their safety due to a loose or unrestrained pet may curtail delivery and ask homeowners to pick up their mail at the Post Office until the carrier is assured the pet is restrained. In cases where a carrier sees a dog roaming and can’t discern where it resides, delivery could be curtailed to the entire neighborhood.

“Warm and wonderful relationships are shared between more than 72 million pet dogs and their owners in the United States,” said Dr. Lori Teller, who serves on the AVMA’s Animal Welfare Committee and is past president of the Texas VMA. “To protect those relationships, everyone must take responsibility for preventing dog bite injuries.

“Half of all children will be bitten by a dog by the time they’re high school seniors,” said Dr. John Fraser, of the Texas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “It’s so important for parents to supervise young children around dogs at all times, and it\'s just as important for children to be taught from an early age how to keep from being bitten.”

“According to the ASPS, 32,961 reconstructive procedures to repair dog bites were performed in 2010, up 8 percent from 2009,” explained Plastic surgeon Lior Heller, of the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, who also represents the ASRM and ASMS. “Unfortunately, the majority of reconstructive surgeries to treat dog bites were performed on children who are frequently bitten on the face, which can result in severe lacerations, infection or scarring.”

“Dog bite prevention education cannot begin early enough,” said Kelly Voigt, 19, the victim of a savage dog attack when she was seven years old. She endured the pain of 100 stitches to her face as part of her recovery The experience was the catalyst behind the creation of Prevent The Bite, a non-profit organization that promotes dog bite prevention to young children. To date, Voigt has spoken before more than 10,000 elementary school students.

To help educate the public about dog bites, the AVMA developed an online brochure:   www.avma.org/press/publichealth/dogbite/mediakit.asp. The AVMA also maintains a dog bite prevention facebook page.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.