Where Does Tri-Cities, and WA Rank in Dogs Biting Mailmen?

Next week is National Dog Bite Awareness Week, June 2 through 9th, and the US Postal Service is participating in the awareness campaign.

   Where do we rank in dog bites on letter carriers?

According to USPS data released Thursday, Pasco recorded 7 dog attacks on mail carriers in 2023, down 3 from 2022.  West Richland reported 2, while Yakima had four. No data was provided for Richland, Kennewick, or Benton City.

Overall, WA State is tied with Minnesota for 19th when it comes to the most attacks by dogs on letter carriers. Both states recorded 108 incidents, down 23 from 2022.

The state's largest cities were listed in WA by USPS, Tacoma had 13 last year, Seattle 11, Spokane 10, while Vancouver had only 1 and Bellevue had -0-

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Postal officials say the Pasco improvement is good, but they want to continue to educate and inform the public about the need to make sure their outside dog is away from areas where letter carriers deliver mail.

Nationally, there were 5,822 incidents in 2023, an increase of 530. The worst states for dog attacks on postal workers were CA, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. The USPS says according to the Insurance Information Institute, the average insurance claim for a dog attack on a postal workers involving biting is over $64K, and sometimes homeowners can be held liable for the dog's behavior.