Coeur d'Alene dogs friendly to letter carriers
COEUR d'ALENE - The U.S. Postal Service released its ranking of the top 25 cities for dog attacks to letter carriers to kick off National Dog Bite Prevention Week, May 19-25.
Thankfully, no North Idaho citiesmade the list. Coeur d'Alene is, after all, the most dog friendly city in the U.S., as recognized by Dog Fancy magazine.
Ernie Swanson, a spokesman for the Postal Service in Washington state and North Idaho, said Coeur d'Alene hasn't had any dog-bite incidents in the past six months, maybe longer.
"It's really not much of an issue in Coeur d'Alene," Swanson said.
The one incident that stands out involved a dog that jumped through the open window of a Postal Service vehicle.
"It just scared the carrier," Swanson said.
The Coeur d'Alene carriers haven't had to curtail mail service because of loose dogs for a long time, he said.
The closest city to North Idaho that was ranked was Seattle, which came in at No. 12 with 28 attacks of postal workers in 2011. Tacoma ranked No. 22, tied with five others that all had 18 attacks.
Nationwide last year, 5,577 postal employees were attacked in more than 1,400 cities. Los Angeles topped the list with 83 postal employees attacked in 2011.
Letter carriers fearing a loose or unrestrained dog may stop delivery and ask homeowners to pick up their mail at the post office until the pet is restrained.
In cases where a carrier sees a dog roaming and can't discern where it resides, delivery could be interrupted to the entire neighborhood.
Beyond the needless pain and suffering, medical expenses from dog attacks cost the Postal Service nearly $1.2 million last year, the service announced in a press release Thursday.
Of the 4.7 million Americans bitten by dogs annually, more than half are children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in 2011 alone more than 29,000 reconstructive procedures were performed as a result of injuries caused by dog bites.