Overview
- The Postal Service published 2025 figures and began a Dog Bite Awareness campaign on June 1 showing more than 5,200 dog attacks on postal employees last year.
- California had the most incidents with 673 reported attacks and Texas was second with 358, while Los Angeles, Dallas and Denver were the top three cities with 70, 50 and 45 incidents respectively.
- Carriers have been hurt on routes, including a San Antonio letter carrier who was hospitalized with a broken bone and a severe arm sprain after a dog jumped a fence and attacked her.
- USPS is rolling out extra training for carriers and has issued owner-focused tips such as keeping dogs in closed rooms, latching gates and using leashes; it says delivery can be temporarily suspended until an address is safe and residents must then pick up mail at a post office.
- The 2025 total is lower than roughly 6,000 attacks reported in 2024, and USPS frames the campaign and policy changes as steps to reduce injuries, limit service disruptions and cut related medical and replacement costs for carriers.