BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The United States Postal Service held a press conference Tuesday to address dog attacks on mail carriers. It's a statewide problem, with several of those attacks happening in Bakersfield. According to USPS numbers, there have been 8 dog attacks on Bakersfield mail carriers this year, and the Postal Service wants dog owners to be aware of the issue.
Bakersfield USPS Safety Manager Deven Patterson has firsthand experience.
"Myself personally have been attacked by quite a few dogs, and have been bit personally 3 times. It is just them charging you gets your heart racing," said Patterson. "It's very emotional."
Patterson says mail carriers are given some guidelines to try and prevent dog attacks, including being aware of their surroundings and carrying dog spray, but she says it's on the owners to prevent dog attacks.
"When we walk up to a door, we sometimes will put our foot on a screen. If we know there's a dog and they open the door, that also helps us, but nothing is 100 percent. It's always better for the customer to restrain the dog for us," said Patterson.
This isn't just a recent problem, either. According to the USPS, in the last 5 years there has been a total of 53 dog attacks on letter carriers in Bakersfield.
According to Matt Holland with Kern County Animal Control, for dog owners that are not responsible with their dogs when a mail carrier is delivering mail, there can be consequences for them if their dog has attacked a carrier multiple times.
"We fine them, and then if it's multiple bites, and depending on the severity of the bite we can turn it into a dangerous order, and then we seize the dog," explained Holland. "They have steps that they have to follow in order to restrain their animal."
If a mail carrier does not feel safe to deliver mail due to an aggressive dog, they can actually stop delivery to the assigned destination until they deem it safe to be delivered, according to USPS Oildale Manager Erica Crespo.
"Mail delivery can be interrupted for an individual address or for an entire neighborhood if the carrier deems it to be unsafe, and when mail is interrupted in a neighborhood, you will have to come into your local post office to pick up your mail, and we can begin delivery after it is deemed safe," said Crespo.
Patterson says it doesn't really matter what breed of dog because any dog is capable of biting.
"It can be anywhere from a German shepherd to a Chihuahua, I mean it's just all dogs. It doesn't even matter how big, how small, all dogs have the potential to bite, and that's kind of how we see it. Even though they are friendly, dogs have bad days," said Patterson.
Some tips the USPS has for dog owners to help avoid attacks on mail carriers and other delivery workers are to put the dog in another room with the door closed if you are expecting a delivery, and remind family members not to take mail directly from carriers as the dog may see the carrier as a threat.
