The Postal Service has released its annual list of the cities with the worst cases of dog attacks on Postal workers in 2015. A total of 6,549 Postal employees were attacked by dogs last year.
These cities proved to be the most dangerous for letter carriers:
| Ranking | City, State | 2015 Dog Attacks | 2014 Dog Attacks | Change | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston, TX | 77 | 63 | 14 | 22 |
| 2 | San Diego, CA Cleveland, OH |
58 | 4737 | 1121 | 2357 |
| 3 | Chicago, IL Dallas, TX |
57 | 4643 | 1114 | 2433 |
| 4 | Los Angeles, CA | 56 | 75 | -19 | -25 |
| 5 | Louisville, KY | 51 | 40 | 11 | 28 |
| 6 | Kansas City, MO | 46 | 32 | 14 | 44 |
| 7 | Philadelphia, PA | 44 | 33 | 11 | 33 |
| 8 | Columbus, OH | 43 | 22 | 21 | 95 |
| 9 | Portland, OR | 41 | 31 | 10 | 32 |
| 10 | Fort Worth, TX San Antonio, TX |
39 | 2624 | 1315 | 5063 |
| 11 | Denver, CO | 38 | 40 | -2 | -5 |
| 12 | Phoenix, AZ | 36 | 35 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 | St. Louis, MO | 35 | 39 | -4 | -10 |
| 14 | Seattle, WA | 34 | 29 | 5 | 17 |
| 15 | Detroit, MI Long Beach, CA |
32 | 2827 | 45 | 1419 |
| 16 | Indianapolis, IN Sacramento, CA |
31 | 3529 | -42 | -117 |
| 17 | Minneapolis, MN Baltimore, MD |
30 | 3327 | -33 | -911 |
| 18 | Miami, FL Cincinnati, OH |
28 | 2624 | 24 | 817 |
| 19 | Brooklyn, NY | 26 | 15 | 11 | 73 |
| 20 | San Francisco, CA | 25 | 23 | 2 | 9 |
| 21 | San Jose, CA Albuquerque, NM St. Paul, MN |
24 | 20 16 6 |
4 8 18 |
20 50 300 |
| 22 | Oakland, CA Milwaukee, WI |
23 | 2211 | 112 | 5109 |
| 23 | Charlotte, NC Dayton, OH |
22 | 2318 | -14 | -422 |
| 24 | Las Vegas, NV | 21 | 19 | 2 | 11 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh, PA Jacksonville, FL |
20 | 2210 | -210 | -9100 |
| 26 | Rochester, NY Fresno, CA Stockton, CA |
19 | 18 17 9 |
1 2 10 |
6 12 111 |
| 27 | Wichita, KS Flushing, NY Baton Rouge, LA |
18 | 25 14 9 |
-7 4 9 |
-28 29 100 |
| 28 | Memphis, TN | 17 | 13 | 4 | 31 |
| 29 | Richmond, VASalt Lake City, UT | 16 | 179 | -17 | -678 |
| 30 | New Orleans, LA Omaha, NE Des Moines, IA Toledo, OH |
15 | 19 14 11 10 |
-4 1 4 5 |
-21 7 36 50 |
To go along with the release of the data, USPS Safety Director Linda DeCarlo announced two new measures the Postal Service is taking to protect its employees.
The first one will be an addition to the Postal Service’s Package Pickup application – customers will be asked to specify whether or not there is a dog at the address when scheduling a package pickup. This will go into effect May 13.
The second change, which will take effect later in the spring, will allow mail carriers to use package scanners to indicate the presence of a dog at an address when confirming delivery of a package.
