The old joke that dogs hate postal workers poses a very real safety risk to mail carriers.
The United States Postal Service is rolling out a new initiative to reduce dog-related incidents for its employees.
In the new Dog Paw program, the mail service will issue colored stickers on mailboxes to warn postal carriers of aggressive pets.
The program uses two colors. A yellow sticker means a dog lives nearby. An orange sticker means a dog resides at the house of the marked mailbox.
Sioux Falls Postmaster Larry Michels says aggressive dogs pose a danger to Postal Service employees nationwide.
“Nearly 6,000 carriers have been attacked or victimized dogs so far this fiscal year.”
Michels says dog attacks and bites are the most common threat to letter carriers. He says most incidents happen when dogs are not leashed.
“When a carrier comes up to a house to maintain that their dogs are leashed, restrained, in another room or behind the door…they [dogs] push through the door or through the screen and they attack the carrier.”
The Postal Service is sending out postcards to residents about the new program and encouraging them to not remove the stickers from their mailboxes.
-Contact SDPB reporter John Nguyen by email.