To wrap up National Dog Bite Prevention week, the U.S. Postal Service is encouraging home owners to follow some simple steps to ensure that its carriers can avoid dog attacks.

According to the agency, more than 6,500 employees were attacked by dogs last year. While there are no individual Mississippi locations listed in the top 30 dog attack city rankings, two new dog awareness steps were unveiled for National Dog Bite Week, which began May 15 and ends today.

Although Mississippi reported 41 attacks in 2015, Meridian has reported no attacks in several years, said Shirley Harrison, acting postmaster at the main post office in Meridian.

“This is normally the season when dogs are running loose, and we want the carriers to be aware of this, and take precautions,” Harrison said. “Carriers are trained with safety talks and videos before going out on their route.

“Our carriers are supposed to have dog spray on them, and have a satchel to keep between them and the dog,” Harrison said. “The dog spray will usually back the dog up.” 

Harrison says two new safety measures have been enacted to alert postal carriers about dogs on their delivery routes. Customers who call or go on-line to schedule for a package pickup will now have to fill out an application.

“On that application, you have to answer a question whether you have a dog on site,” Harrison said. “That lets us know before the carrier even starts on their route if there is an animal they need to be looking for.”

In addition, the postal service has a device that allows carriers to program a reminder that a dog lives at a certain residence, Harrison said.

“It alerts the carrier if there is an aggressive dog at that address, or some kind of safety issue,” Harrison said. “We can key that address into the database of the scanner and whenever a carrier gets to that address the scanner will alert them.

“The scanner is especially useful for a new employee or a substitute on the route who isn’t familiar where the dogs are.”

 Harrison says if homeowners don’t have their dogs on a leash, the carrier can withhold their mail.

“If you have a dismounted delivery and the carrier sees an aggressive dog that isn’t on a leash, they can withhold the mail and require the homeowner to pick it up at the post office,” Harrison said. “We encourage them not to get out.

“If we know that a dog is domicile in a particular block or a street we can withhold the mail for an entire block,” she said.

Many attacks reported by letter carriers in 2015 came from dogs whose owners used those famous last words, “my dog won’t bite,” according to postal officials. 

“Most people think their pets are friendly,” Harrison said. “But, it’s something about that carrier in that uniform that makes even a friendly pet, an aggressive pet.”

 Here are some recommendations the Postal Service is offering to dog owners:

• obedience training can teach dogs proper behavior and help owners control their dog in any situation.

• When the letter carrier comes to your home, keep your dog inside, away from the door, in another room, or on a leash.

• Dogs can be protective of their territory and may interpret the actions of letter carriers as a threat. Please take precautions when accepting mail in the presence of your pet.

 • Dogs that haven’t been properly socialized, receive little attention or handling, or are left tied-up for long periods of time frequently turn into biters.