Kansas City is one of the worst cities in the US for dog attacks on mail carriers
Who let the dogs out in Kansas City? Hopefully, not you when the mailman is around.
Reports of dogs attacking a mail carrier may seem like a tall tale, but it happens more often than you think. Postal workers in the United States suffered 5,800 dog bites in 2023, according to the United States Postal Service.
Kansas City was the city with the 11th most dog bites in the United States, the USPS said. The postal service reported that mailmen were bit 32 times in Kansas City in 2023. It’s not the first time KC has landed on the list either.
“Letter carriers are exposed to potential hazards every day, none more prevalent than a canine encounter. All it takes is one interaction for a letter carrier to possibly suffer an injury,” Leeann Theriault, USPS Manager for employee safety and health awareness, said in a statement.
Missouri also had the 10th most dog bites, as the USPS reported 180 bites in 2023. This is a 14 bite increase from 2022, when the postal service reported 166 dog bites in the state.
How does Kansas City compare to the rest of the country?
Kansas City’s 32 dog bites puts it just outside of the top 10, but another Missouri city made the top five.
St. Louis reported 46 dog bites, making it the city with the fourth most dog bites in the country. Los Angeles had the most dog bites with 65, and the top five featured Houston, Chicago and Cleveland.
San Diego, Dallas, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio, round out the top 10 cities.
The combined efforts from Kansas City and St. Louis dogs put Missouri in the top 10 states for most dog bites in the United States.
California took the top spot with 727 dog attacks on mail carriers last year. Texas was second with 411, Ohio came in third at 359, Pennsylvania in fourth with 334 and Illinois rounds out the top five with 316 attacks.
New York, Florida, North Carolina and Michigan were also in the top 10.
‘Don’t let your dog bite the hand that serves you’
Releasing the annual dog bite rankings every year is to raise awareness for employees, the USPS said in a blog post.
The organization is running its USPS 2024 National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign through Sunday. This year’s theme is, “Don’t let your dog bite the hand that serves you.”
A few ways that dog owners can help reduce attacks on mail carriers is by keeping their pets inside the house, behind a fence, away from the door or on a leash.
The average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, according to the Insurance Information Institute. If a postal employee suffers an injury, the dog’s owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee.
