In honor of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) 2024 National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign, the organization released yearly numbers regarding dogs attacking postal workers.
In 2023, there were over 5,800 cases involving dog attacks on postal workers, according to the USPS.
This is up from more than 5,300 in 2022.
California saw the most dog attacks on postal workers last year with 727 incidents — up from 675 in 2022, according to the organization.
Texas was in the No. 2 spot, with 411 incidents in 2023 and 404 in 2022.
No. 3 was Ohio, which had 359 attacks in 2023 and 311 in 2022.
Rounding out the list was Pennsylvania, with 334, Illinois with 316, New York with 296, Florida with 193, North Carolina with 185, Michigan with 183, and Missouri with 180.
The top 10 cities where the most attacks happened were Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, San Diego, Dallas, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio.
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The USPS 2024 National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign began on June 2 and runs through June 9.
The theme for this year’s campaign is “Don’t let your dog bite the hand that serves you,” according to USPS.
“Letter carriers are exposed to potential hazards every day, none more prevalent than a canine encounter. All it takes is one interaction for a letter carrier to possibly suffer an injury,” said Leeann Theriault, USPS manager, Employee Safety and Health Awareness, per the organization’s website.
“The U.S. Postal Service consistently encourages responsible pet ownership. The national dog bite campaign is an effort to promote dog bite awareness to keep our customers, their dogs, and letter carriers safe while delivering the mail.”
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In honor of the 2024 campaign, USPS outlined measures that dog owners can take to keep mail carriers safe.
Since mail is delivered to homes around the same time each day, USPS says to keep your dog inside your home, within a fence, away from the door in another room or on a leash during the typical time of day a mail carrier is expected to arrive.
Mail recipients can also use Informed Delivery, a free service provided by USPS, to keep track of when their mail and packages are scheduled to arrive.
This is an additional measure to know when to keep your furry friend under extra supervision.
If a mail carrier is bitten by a dog, newest information from the Insurance Institute shared by the USPS states that the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555.
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