Dallas Dogs Bite an Alarming Number of Postal Workers

Someone, somewhere, once said, “There’s a little truth in every joke.” Similar things have been said about cliches. We certainly disagree that every joke and cliche has some undeniable truth in them, but when it comes to the popular notion that dogs hate mail carriers, it’s hard to argue against it.

Dogs in Dallas help reinforce that notion.

To kick off its National Dog Bite Awareness campaign, the U.S. Postal Service recently released its rankings of the states with the most dog-bite incidents involving postal workers.

According to the USPS, Dallas came in at No. 6 with 43 dog bites in 2024. Great job, Dallas dog owners. You only missed out on a No. 5 spot by one bite.

“Customers may not consider their dog a danger to others, however, to a letter carrier like me, all dogs can be considered a threat when delivering the mail,” said Jonah Helfrich, a Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, letter carrier in the USPS announcement. “I was recently delivering mail and a dog barged through a door and bit me on the wrist, which required me to seek medical treatment. I strongly encourage all dog owners to take precautions to make sure their dog is secure when mail is being delivered.”

To be fair to Big D, however, Houston, a larger city, is the worst in Texas regarding canine attacks. Houston landed at No. 2 in the nation with 65 USPS dog bite incidents. Elsewhere in Texas, San Antonio came in at No. 11 with 32 biting incidents, and El Paso made the list at No. 24 with 21. Fort Worth barely ranked, coming in at No. 37 with 15.

As a state, Texas trailed only California, with 438 USPS dog bites, which is not surprising considering Texas ranks No. 2 in population behind California.

But why do dogs not love postal workers? It's not that complicated.

"To a dog, anybody showing up at your front door is potentially some sort of intruder into their territory, whether it is the postman, a UPS driver, or the guy delivering Chinese food or pizza. It is appropriate that this should trigger their defence mechanism in a dog since that is one of the reasons why we decided to keep them in the first place," says a report from Psychology Today.

But, as Psychology Today also explains, actions specific to certain workers specializing in deliveries seem to empower protective pups.

"You see, the postman arrives, the dog acts defensively, and the postman leaves, the report says. "In other words, in the dog's mind, he attempted to defend his territory and it worked."

A dog biting a mail carrier could be painful for more than the one getting bitten. The USPS says that when a carrier feels unsafe, a home's mail delivery might be paused. An attack could cost the dog owner thousands of dollars, the USPS says, due to the owner’s responsibility to cover medical expenses, lost wages and more. But that would only be the start of the inconvenience.

“If a carrier feels a house or neighborhood is unsafe to deliver the mail and there is no way to inform residents their mail service has been suspended, the residents would have to contact the supervisor at their local Post Office for more information,” the USPS website states. “The residents would also have to pick up their mail at the Post Office until it is safe to resume delivery. If a dangerous dog issue is not resolved, owners can be required to rent a Post Office box to receive mail.”

Postal workers are wise to the notion that dogs may not be their biggest fans. And there’s technology to help them navigate the sketchy terrain they may face.

“Mail carriers have tools to alert them to dogs on their routes,” the USPS statement says. “A dog alert feature on carriers’ handheld scanners can remind them of a possible dog hazard, and dog warning cards must be used during mail sorting to alert carriers to addresses where a dog may interfere with delivery.”

As dangerous as Dallas might be for mail delivery, it’s nowhere near as hazardous as Los Angeles. With 77 attacks in 2024, L.A. led the Golden State and the nation in USPS dog bites, helping power California to a whopping 701 biting incidents last year.