America’s worst states for dog bites revealed in new report

The national rankings were released by the United States Postal Service on 4 June, to mark National Dog Bite Awareness Week

A stock image of a dog holding a large stick. (DPA/AFP via Getty Images)

The United States Postal Service has released its annual list of American states with the most dog bites against its mail carriers.

California and Texas came first and second on the postal service’s 2022 national rankings, with 675 and 404 dog bite incidents, respectively.

New York came in third place, as USPS registered a total of 321 dog bites against its employees last year.

The states with the least number of dog bites included Michigan, Missouri and North Carolina, with 206, 166, and 146 incidents, respectively.

Meanwhile, the cities with the fewest dog attacks against USPS staff (20 each) were Oklahoma City, El Paso and Baltimore.

USPS’s report was released on Sunday 4 June, marking the start of National Dog Bite Awareness Week until 10 June.

The tagline for this year’s campaign is “Even good dogs have bad days”, as USPS Occupational Safety and Health Senior Director Linda DeCarlo said: “When our mail carriers are bitten, it is usually a ‘good dog’ that had not previously behaved in a menacing way,

“In 2022, too many aggressive dogs impacted the lives of our employees while delivering the mail. Please help us reduce that number by being a responsible pet owner who secures their dog as we deliver the mail.”

According to the report, a total of 5,300 postal service employees were attacked by dogs while delivering mail across the United States.

City-wise, the highest dog bite tallies were reported in Houston (57), Los Angeles (48), and Texas (44).

The postal service urged pet owners to ensure their dogs are secured inside their houses, behind a fence, away in another room, or on a leash at mail delivery times.

According to the release, USPS mail carriers are trained to minimise the risk of dog bites. They are taught never to assume a dog won’t bite, or startle a dog.

Highlighting other safety protocols, USPS letter carrier Swain Lowe recounted: “Recently, I was delivering to a customer’s mailbox and was nearly bitten by their large aggressive dog,”

“Despite the dog being behind a fence, it still managed to jump over and charge me. Thankfully, I was aware of it and remembered not to run but to turn and use my satchel as a shield to prevent what could have been a terrible bite,” the worker continued.