It appears being a mail carrier in Seattle can be dangerous.
Seattle ranked second on a list of cities that saw the most dog attacks on mail carriers during the last fiscal last year, according to the U.S. Postal Service.
Seattle tied with San Antonio with a total of 42 attacks each. Los Angeles topped the list with 69 attacks, and Chicago followed in the third spot with 41 attacks. Nationwide, mail carriers suffered a total of 5,879 dog attacks.
With National Dog Bite Prevention Week coming up next week, the Postal Service urged dog owners to take responsible measures.
If a mail carrier determines a free-roaming dog to be a threat, the dog’s owner will be made to pick up their mail at the post office until the situation is resolved, the Postal Service said.
Owners of dogs who are overwhelmingly excited by mail carriers are asked to put their pets in a separate room at delivery time as dogs have been known to jump through glass or screen doors.
Owners are also urged to act cautiously when receiving mail so as not to incite a protective or territorial instinct in their dogs.
“Many dogs are cherished members of their family and people believe their dog won’t bite, but given the right circumstances, any dog can attack," said Ken Snavely, acting postmaster of Los Angeles.
Nearly 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs every year.
