TREDYFFRIN — The United States Postal Service kicked off its annual Dog Bite Awareness Campaign in southeastern Pennsylvania at the United States Postal facility in Tredyffrin Township.
This year’s campaign theme is “Don’t bite the hand that serves you.” The idea behind the program is to highlight the dangers faced by postal workers from dog bites.
Tara Snyder, a Nesquehoning, Carbon County, mail carrier, shared her experience after getting attacked by a dog while on the job.
She was in the process of delving mail when a dog came at her.
“I had very little time to react, so I quickly raised my satchel to try and block him with my bag, and at that point, he bit my bag and my hand,” Snyder said.
She showed an image of her hand after getting 16 stitches.
“The postal service theme for this year is ‘don’t bite the hand that serves you’ — and I couldn’t agree more,” Snyder said.
Snyder said the homeowner quickly called 911, and she was taken to a hospital.
Following the press conference, Snyder said she is recovering and recently returned to work. The homeowner now has a mailbox outside the gate of their yard.
The campaign, which runs through June 9, is a USPS-sponsored public service offering safety tips and emphasizing the need for increased owner responsibility in the prevention of dog attacks.
According to postal service statistics, more than 5,800 mail carriers were attacked by dogs in the United States in 2023. Thirty-four attacks occurred in Philadelphia and 334 in Pennsylvania, both figures increased from the previous year.
After Snyder spoke, Ed Erb, with Dog Training Elite, offered tips on dog safety.
“Safety is your responsibility; your dog is your responsibility,” Erb said. “You have to know your dog. They’re all different. You have to know the breed of your dog and know some of the general inclinations that those dogs have. People like to say, ‘Well, I have a pit bull, and she’s incredibly sweet; I have a Doberman, and he’s incredibly sweet.’ You have to know that all dogs have certain tendencies. All dogs are individuals as well.”
Erb said if the dog is a risk, it should be kept separated and unable to have contact with strangers, or if that is not possible, it should be muzzled.
“You have to think about it from being a dog parent,” Erb said. “Love your dog? Most people would say, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ Well, what’s going to happen to your dog if your dog bites someone? There’s a very good chance that your dog is going to be put down.”
