Dog Attacks Against Letter Carriers Rise In Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A rise in dog attacks in Columbus has the post office campaigning for dog owners to be more responsible.

According to the postal service there have been 82 dog attacks in the Columbus District this year compared to 67 in 2007. More than half of the attacks in the Columbus district happened within the city of Columbus. The areas with the highest number of attacks are Oakland Park, Westland, South Columbus, and German Village.

Letter carrier Victoria Haynes was attacked by a Pitt-Bull Chow mix in August while she was delivering mail to a home on East Kossuth Street.

She suffered both physical and emotional scars.

“Every little noise, even if I’m not working, if I’m walking outside and I hear something rattle I’m just always on edge,“ she said.

“They had their front door open with the screen door shut. Without warning, no dog bark, nothing, the dog jumped through the screen door and got me.“

“The dog had chipped away a piece of my bone. I had a really bad infection. I had to wear a portable IV pump for six weeks and I was off work for about seven,“ she said.

The postal service is asking dog owners to keep their dogs retrained from the mailbox from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or keep their dogs behind closed doors. If a dog owner does not comply the postal service will either ask that person to get a post office box, or service will be suspended on the entire street.

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