See Spot — run!
Canines took a chew of postal employees on Lengthy Island greater than 80 instances final yr — main New York in canine encounters by a prolonged margin, new information from the US Postal Service discovered.
Nassau and Suffolk counties’ mail carriers have been used as chew toys by man’s greatest good friend 83 instances alongside their routes — accounting for greater than 25% of all canine assaults (322) reported statewide in 2024.
“Daily, all day, it’s a must to be very observant on the market round you, particularly the canines,” Diana Villatoro, a 57-year-old mail service from Franklin Sq., instructed Newsday.
Lengthy Island noticed greater than triple the variety of assaults than these in Rochester, town with essentially the most incidents within the state, which logged 23, in keeping with the information.
In the meantime, all the Huge Apple additionally paled as compared, combining for simply 54 bites.
Nassau recorded 43 assaults and Suffolk 40 final yr, the Postal Service discovered.
Hempstead, Bay Shore and Amityville logged 4 canine bites every final yr — essentially the most amongst Lengthy Island’s almost 60 communities, the information present.
Villatoro, whose route relies in Hicksville, encounters about 30 canines every day alongside her travels.
Bitten by a stray Doberman about 15 years in the past, Villatoro stated she wanted stitches and a sequence of rabies pictures — and stays traumatized from the incident.
“You’re at all times afraid that you just’re going to get bit,” she instructed the outlet.
The numbers have been launched as a part of the Postal Service’s annual canine chew consciousness marketing campaign, launched to spotlight the hazards of the job — particularly throughout hotter months when extra canines are out on the prowl.
Postal officers warn that if a service feels unsafe round a sure pup, mail supply to that handle might be suspended.
As a part of the marketing campaign, postal officers are additionally urging pet house owners to maintain their canines inside or securely restrained when mail is being delivered.
Strict security protocols have already been in place for years although to attempt to forestall assaults, together with barring mail carriers from carrying earbuds, requiring them to hold non-lethal canine repellent, and flagging addresses with recognized aggressive canines utilizing brilliant orange warning playing cards.
“You by no means know what a canine is considering even when an proprietor says it doesn’t chew,” Hicksville Postmaster Annette D’Amato stated.
“My first precedence is to verify my carriers are secure.”
