By Thomas Tracy
If it wasn’t such a serious topic, you could say that United States Postal Service (USPS) letter carriers are having a ruff time in Bay Ridge.Postal officials confirmed Wednesday that at least two letter carriers have been bitten by mean-spirited mutts – one seriously – as they made their rounds from the Fort Hamilton Station, 8801 5th Avenue, in recent weeks.While Tom Gaynor, a spokesman from the Brooklyn Postmaster did not have any specifics about the two attacks, but said that the letter carriers were bitten by “unsecured dogs.”“Homeowners should know that they have to secure their pets for the carrier’s safety,” said an area resident, a relative of one of the letter carriers. “They [the dogs] should never be let out without a leash.”The woman said her relative was walking down a common driveway on Monday following last weekend’s snowstorm when the dog attacked.“The dog, [a German Shepherd mix] heard the wheels of the cart and ran out,” the woman said.The letter carrier needed a trip to the ER.“Letter carriers usually don’t expect that dogs will be in the snow,” added Gaynor, who, too, had a run-in with a dog during his early days as a mail man. “But the dog surprised the letter carrier.”Gaynor said that both letter carriers had their bites treated and were given the required tetanus shots.According to sources, at least one of the letter carriers injured by dogs has yet to return to work after receiving stitches to her hand.She’s not expected to return to work for several months, they said.Gaynor said that the frequency of attacks reported from the Fort Hamilton Station was “atypical.”“Usually, the Fort Hamilton station reports one dog attack a year,” said Gaynor. “This year, there has been two incidents in the last two weeks.”According to the USPS, dog attacks and bites from dogs resulted in 3,423 injuries to letter carriers nationwide in 2004 — an average of 11 dog attacks and/or bites every delivery day.That number, officials note, does not include the number of threatening confrontations between the mail carriers and their four-legged “not so best friends” that did not result in injury.The problem is so severe that the USPS holds National Dog Bite Prevention Week in May, during which dog owners are encouraged to properly secure their pooches to not only protect letter carriers, but children as well.“For every letter carrier attacked or bitten, hundreds of children needlessly suffer the pain and trauma of dog bites,” according to a 2005 release promoting National Dog Bite Prevention Week. “Whatever the reasons for them, dog attacks and bites are a serious problem for the entire community, not just our letter carriers trying to deliver your mail. These numbers pale in comparison with the more than 4.7 million people – mostly children and the elderly – who suffer injuries from dog attacks each year.”While some attribute attacks on letter carriers to dogs’ inbred aversion to uniforms, experts say the psychology actually runs much deeper.Every day that a letter carrier comes into a dog’s territory, the dog barks and the letter carrier leaves. Day after day the dog sees this action repeated. After a week or two, the dog appears to feel invincible against intruder. Once the dog gets loose, there’s a good chance it will attack, according to officials.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly two percent of Americans are bitten by a dog each year, and most of the victims are children.
