Postmaster provides tips to chew on

With the warmer weather, Nevada postmaster Julie Mader has asked that area residents be conscious of their mail carrier when leaving their dogs outside or when answering the door.

“They have to have control of their animal,” Mader said of dog owners in an April 2017 interview. “They can’t just be running loose.”

Of the 6,244 PostalService employees attacked by dogs in 2016, five were here in Nevada.

Mader explained Friday that while no postal carriers have been attacked in Nevada this year, incidents involving dogs typically increase as the weather warms.

She said that dog attacks on postal carriers often occur when a resident answers their door or are the result of dogs being allowed to run loose in the yard or neighborhood.

Article II of the Nevada Code of Ordinances, chapter 5, section 26c defines dogs at large as, “Owners or controlling parties are accountable for proper restraint and containment of their dogs. It shall be unlawful for any controlling party of any dog, to permit or allow, whether intentionally or accidentally, such dog to run at large.”

A dog is considered “at large” when it is not on a leash, not contained in a proper fence, not properly tethered or not properly contained by an electronic fence.

Mader asked that area residents, especially those living in Nevada, be conscious of what time their postal carrier delivers mail each day and not allow their dogs to be in the yard or to come with them when answering the door.

She explained that while delivering packages, she has had to block doors shut with her foot when the resident attempted to open the door while their dog was inside the house, barking and agitated.

A dog attack here in Nevada 14 years ago left a postal carrier out of work for two months. Before the case could make it’s way through the court system, the same dog attacked a child, pulling them off of a bicycle.

No only can a dog’s owner be held civilly liable for medical bills and other expensive of a dog attack, but may face criminal charges as well

• Mader offered suggestions to help prevent incidents of dog attacks or postal carriers or others.

• If a carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Some dogs burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to attack visitors. Dog owners should keep the family pet secured.

• Parents should remind their children and other family members not to take mail directly from carriers in the presence of the family pet, as the dog may view the person handing mail to a family member as a threatening gesture.

• The Postal Service places the safety of its employees as a top priority. If a carrier feels threatened by a dog, or if a dog is loose or unleashed, the owner may be asked to pick up mail at a Post Office until the carrier is assured the pet has been restrained. If a dog is roaming the neighborhood, the pet owner’s neighbors also may be asked to pick up their mail at the area’s Post Office.

Each of Nevada’s 11 daily postal carriers are taught not to run, but to defend themselves using their mail bag as a shield and to use a repellent spray containing oleoresin capsicum (extract of cayenne pepper).

Carriers are notified by electronic message in their scanner and in the mail stacks themselves of locations where dangerous dogs have been reported. Rural carriers are not to get out of their vehicle if there is a loose dog in the yard.

Mader said dangerous dogs can be reported to the Nevada Police Department at 417-448-5100. “I just want to make people aware of the issue so no one gets hurt,” Mader said.