The Route She Almost Quit

Sandra Pruitt had been a mail carrier in Cleveland, Ohio for eleven years when the attack happened. She was reaching toward a mail slot on a residential street on a Wednesday afternoon in October 2024 — a house she'd delivered to hundreds of times — when a medium-sized mixed breed came through an unsecured gate and bit her on the forearm. The wound required six stitches. The homeowner was apologetic. The dog, they said, had never done anything like that before.

Sandra took two weeks off work. She came back, but not without changes: she started carrying her mail satchel differently, angling it between herself and any dog she heard before she saw. She applied for a position on a commercial route. She told her supervisor she needed different work for a while.

"People don't think about what it means to walk up to the same addresses every day when you know some of them have dogs," she said. "You can't know when it's going to be different. You just know it might be."

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A Problem at a Seven-Year High

The United States Postal Service tracks dog attacks on its employees with more precision than almost any other organization in the country. Every incident is reported, documented, and compiled into an annual ranking that names cities and states by the number of attacks on USPS workers. The 2025 National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign released that data in May 2025 covering incidents in 2024, and the numbers marked a seven-year high.

Dog attacks on postal workers reached a seven-year high in 2024, with more than 6,000 dog attacks recorded — up 5% from 2023 and 15% from 2022. A follow-up USPS release in May 2026 covering 2025 data showed the total had moderated slightly, with over 5,200 dog attacks among postal workers recorded in 2025.

California saw the greatest number of incidents in 2024, with 701 cases. Texas ranked second with 438, followed by Ohio with 350. Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, Missouri, and North Carolina rounded out the top ten states.

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Los Angeles, Three Years Running

With 70 reported incidents in 2025, Los Angeles ranked first for the third consecutive year as the worst city for dog attacks on USPS employees, after overtaking Houston in 2023. Five other California cities also appeared on the list — San Diego, Oakland, Sacramento, Long Beach, and San Francisco — none of them with fewer than 15 reported attacks.

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The dominance of California in these rankings is partly a population story — more people, more addresses, more dogs, more potential encounters. But an NBC News analysis of Postal Service data found that the highest rate of attacks per household was actually in the Midwest, where in 2024 there were an average of 5.24 dog attacks per 100,000 households — a rate 75% higher than in the South. Ohio alone had seven cities in the top 20 for attack incidents. Cleveland, where Sandra Pruitt works, was among them.

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Why the Mailbox Is a Flashpoint

The mail carrier encounter is one of the most predictable and preventable bite scenarios in the country. Dogs are territorial by nature, and the approach of a stranger toward the property — especially one who appears at roughly the same time each day, deposits something through a slot or into a box, and then leaves — can trigger a protective response in dogs that have otherwise never shown aggression.

The USPS National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign, launched in June 2025 with the theme "Secure Your Dog, Keep Deliveries on Track," emphasized that even dogs that have never shown signs of aggression can react in ways their owners don't expect. Dogs may attack not only to defend their territory but when they feel startled, anxious, or unwell.

The USPS has developed practical protocols for its carriers. Handheld scanners now include built-in dog warning alerts for flagged addresses. Physical warning cards are placed in sorting cases to notify carriers of known dogs on their routes. Carriers are trained to use their mail satchels as physical barriers and to carry dog repellent. When a dog makes a carrier feel unsafe — even without an actual attack occurring — mail service to that address and sometimes an entire neighborhood can be temporarily suspended.

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The Financial and Legal Consequences for Owners

Dog owners whose pets attack postal workers face consequences that extend beyond moral responsibility. The USPS states that owners can be held financially liable for attacks on carriers, potentially owing thousands of dollars to cover medical care, lost shifts, replacement clothing, and emotional distress. Homeowners insurance covers many of these costs — until it doesn't. A dog that has attacked a postal worker is a documented liability risk, and insurers can use that record to increase premiums, restrict coverage, or non-renew a policy.

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The USPS guidance for owners is simple and consistent: put the dog in another room before opening the door for the carrier. Do not accept mail directly from a carrier while the dog is present, because dogs can interpret the interaction between owner and stranger as a threat. Secure fences and gates. Know where your dog is during the delivery window every day.

Sandra Pruitt in Cleveland is back on her regular route now. The house with the gate is on it. The owners installed a latch. The dog — a Boxer mix named Hank, she learned eventually — barks when she approaches and is usually visible through the window. She does not stop walking. She keeps her satchel on the gate-side arm. She has delivered to that address every week for the past eight months without incident.

"Hank and I have an understanding now," she said. "He's on his side of the fence. I'm on mine. That's how it should have always been."