According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta, letter carriers are third, behind small children and the
elderly, on the list of the nation’s most frequent dog-bite victims,
with an average of 11 carriers attacked each day.

And in
2006 and 2007, the U.S. Postal Service’s Dallas region – a huge area
that goes from Oklahoma down to Jasper and east to the Texas-Louisiana
border – ranked third among all postal districts in the number of
carriers attacked by dogs. The district has followed top dog Houston
and second-place Los Angeles both years.

"Surely, we have
to do something to work on that," said Tyrone McGill, interim division
manager of Dallas Animal Services. "I don’t like being third in
anything. Especially something that’s that bad."

City and
postal officials say they don’t know why Dallas ranks so high in terms
of dog attacks. But one victimized letter carrier, Aaron Williams, said
he believes the attacks are more common here because dog owners usually
face few consequences.

"Nothing ever happens to the
owner. Ever," said Mr. Williams, who, like Mr. Powell, has been bitten
twice in his career. "They get their dog back in a week. The first
time, I was out for five weeks."

In Dallas, dogs that
bite people are quarantined for 10 days to check for rabies, Mr. McGill
said. If the test results are negative, the post office is informed and
the dog is released to its owner.

Postal service officials say they use a three-letter policy to deal
with dangerous dogs. Owners first receive a letter warning that their
mail service can be stopped if they do not restrain their pets. The
second letter notifies owners that their mail will be stopped if their
dog is not restrained by a certain date.

"About 30 to 40
percent comply with the first letter," said McKinney Boyd, a postal
service spokesman in Dallas. "But 99 percent comply with the second."

If that doesn’t solve the problem, then the third and final letter is
sent to the owner, informing them that mail delivery has been stopped
and they must pick up mail at the post office.

Letter carriers are trained in dog-bite prevention and provided with
dog repellent and instructions on how to use their mailbags in a
defensive position during an attack, Mr. Boyd said.    

"That
can ward off large dogs, but a small dog is harder to ward off because
they can get at the mail carrier’s feet and legs easier," he said.

Children under age one had the highest risk of being bitten, and nearly 75% of the injured children were younger than ten. Half of all dog bites were to the face, head or neck.