Dog Attacks on Postal Employees on the Decline

The number of dog attacks on Postal employees has declined over the last two years according to new data from the Postal Service.

The number of attacks on Postal employees by dogs is on the decline according to annual data released by the Postal Service.

In 2018, there were 5,714 dog attacks, 530 less than in 2017, a 9.3% drop. Last year’s figure is also over 1,000 less than in 2016 when there were 6,755 attacks reported. 2016 did represent an increase over 2015, however. In 2015, there were 6,549 attacks by dogs.

The Postal Service is pleased with the trend over the last two years and says that technology is part of the reason for the improvement.

Mobile Delivery Devices, or scanners, used by carriers to confirm customer delivery, include a feature to indicate the presence of a dog at an individual address. And the Package Pickup application asks customers to indicate if dogs are at their address when they schedule package pickups, which allows USPS to send alerts to those carriers.

What are the Worst Cities for Dog Bites?

Office City Office State CY 2018 CY 2017
1 HOUSTON TX 75 71
2 LOS ANGELES CA 60 67
3 PHILADELPHIA PA 51 27
4 CLEVELAND OH 50 49
5 DALLAS TX 49 40
6 SAN ANTONIO TX 47 44
7 MINNEAPOLIS MN 38 27
8 CHICAGO IL 37 38
8 COLUMBUS OH 37 43
10 FORT WORTH TX 35 26
11 DETROIT MI 34 32
12 SAN DIEGO CA 33 46
13 CHARLOTTE NC 32 27
13 MEMPHIS TN 32 20
15 BALTIMORE MD 31 44
15 DENVER CO 31 35
15 KANSAS CITY MO 31 32
18 ST. LOUIS MO 30 52
19 ALBUQUERQUE NM 29 22
19 SACRAMENTO CA 29 24
21 OAKLAND CA 28 28
22 SEATTLE WA 27 28
23 CINCINNATI OH 24 25
23 MIAMI FL 24 25
23 PHOENIX AZ 24 24
26 LOUISVILLE KY 23 39
27 BROOKLYN NY 22 21
27 LAS VEGAS NV 22 19
27 PORTLAND OR 22 24

The top states are as follows:

State 2017 2018
CA 918 794
TX 426 462
NY 339 339
OH 345 304
IL 297 273
PA 277 252
MI 258 224
FL 211 198
NC 190 169

The Postal Service also has a map of the United States with more detailed data on dog attacks.

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.