Rabid Claims Biting Into USPS Funds
By Robert Warne - May 30, 2003
Taking a bite out of claims has been redefined across the nation for postal workers caught in the crossfire of a dog bite epidemic.
With more than 3,000 postal workers bit by dogs in 2002, letter carriers rank just behind children and the elderly as being the most susceptible to dog attacks, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
A recent incident that occurred in Salinas demonstrates the intrinsic danger dogs pose to a mail carrier and how easy it is for one to end up with a claim at then end of a long day of work.
According to The Californian, James Arthur Guerrero, a 33-year-old letter carrier was out on his routine route when he approached a house where children were playing outside.
The home had its service revoked at one time because of a dog the resident’s owned. But assured that the dog no longer lived there, mail delivery was reinstated.
Then on May 24, the same dog that supposedly no longer existed at that location lunged for Guerrero’s face. The mail carrier was able to deflect the Rottweiler mix from his face with his arm. Undeterred from pepper spray, the dog finally yielded to the screams of onlookers.
The mail carrier’s arm ended up needing five stitches after the ordeal and he will be out of work for two weeks.
Often dog owners must cover a portion of the dog bite tab, but the remainder of the over $25 million annual cost, that includes workers’ compensation, leaves the United States Postal Service with nothing else it can do but howl at the moon.
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