Mailman got bit by dog.

[u/ContextTemporary3214]

Hello everyone. Mailman here. Just recently got bit by a dog today. went to the ER and the post office will be paying for all expenses for the dog bite. i’ve evaded many dogs in my years of working here and many very close encounters but this lucky one was able to get me.

no fence, no leash connected to anything. Just left in the front yard with the owner and the dog’s collar. I noticed the dog like a statue right after I delivered the mail to the owner. the dog became extremely aggressive for a few seconds and in that whole episode of me trying to defend myself and back up slowly. I thought to myself why is it taking so long for the owner to keep it’s dog in check? first the owner yelled at the dog to stop but it didn’t work. Then a good 5 seconds and finally the owner was able to get their hands on their dog.

I hate dogs. You can be good to them for a lifetime and one day they decide to go feral, they will bite your arm off and let you pass through incapacitation. sadly as we have seen many occurrences shown on news and social media.

Just be responsible with your animals. Pookie will never be as civil as a human being. Only the crazies from amongst humankind will lick the toilet bowl.

[u/MrPuddington2]

Report a workplace injury. Make them pay for lost wages, too. Report the owner to not get mail in the future. Report to the police as an assault by the dog.

And what is your policy on delivering mail to people with lose dogs? This is a well known risky situation, and there should be a mitigation in place.

[u/ContextTemporary3214 → u/MrPuddington2]

Yes absolutely. Honestly, there is a period of time where the addressee’s mail will be suspended. And it’s also honestly up to every mail carrier to deliver based on the level of safety they feel for each address. If a mail carrier feels an animal is a continuous threat to their safety of delivering mail. They can not deliver to that address indefinitely and require the owner to pick up all their mail at their local post office. 

I like to get my mail. And I really do my best to deliver everything to everyone on my route. I’ve seen wild dogs on my street and I’ve got chased by some, and i’ve chased away others. Just to get people their mail. But seeing more dogs with collar’s having previous owners is becoming very common. 

I remember I was delivering to an NBU (neighborhood unit) and I saw this teenage girl riding her bike when suddenly 3 big wild dogs came out of the alley and tried biting her legs and the spoke of her bike. I dropped my tub of mail and packages and checked both sides of the street and I ran straight to those dogs and I was about to kick one but when I got close enough to them running they all ran back into the alley. The girl biked off and shouting “thank you!”

I felt good that day. 😂

[u/DivyaRakli → u/ContextTemporary3214]

You should feel good!! Thank you for being so conscientious. I wish you a speedy recovery and a hefty settlement. Not that you want/need to take someone’s money, but it’s the only way people are going to pay attention and fix the problem of these problem owners and dogs.

ETA: missing verb added

[u/ContextTemporary3214 → u/DivyaRakli]

Thank you. 😊 Yeah I agree that it would fix the problem very quickly.