DENVER — During a hands‑on safety demonstration Tuesday, USPS carriers stressed that even friendly family dogs can pose hazards at the door, urging owners to keep pets secured as warmer weather brings more foot‑traffic to front porches.
Denver ranked third in the nation last year with 45 reported dog bite incidents involving U.S. Postal Service mail carriers, trailing only Los Angeles, which led the country with 70 incidents, and Dallas with 50.
Watch Ethan Carlson's report on this recent ranking in the video below.
Denver dog bite incidents have stayed about the same for years. In 2016, Denver recorded 47 bites, but ranked seventh in the country at the time.
June is the USPS Dog Bite Prevention Month, and Rasool Daoud, manager of field safety for USPS, put the national scope of the problem in perspective during Tuesday morning's safety demonstration.
“Last year there were 5,200 dog bites across the country,” Daoud said. “It's just a reminder for us to be on guard and to make sure that we are aware of where the canines are and where hazards are.”
During the session, safety specialists demonstrated tools carriers use to protect themselves, including air horns.
Mail carriers also rely on electronic scanners that flag addresses with known dog hazards. Denver City Carrier Tianna Trujillo described how the system works on her route.
“That way, if I'm not here, anybody who does my route when I'm on vacation… will know that that dog can open the door, and if they don't feel comfortable, they can either skip that house and bring back the mail for me to deliver tomorrow, or they can at least be aware, put their foot up against the door to make sure that it stays shut,” Trujillo said.
Trujillo has spent four years delivering mail in Denver’s Berkeley neighborhood. She says the community keeps her coming back, even if the job comes with risks.
“I was coming up the steps, and the dog hit the handle just right, and popped the door open, and came out, and caught me in my thigh,” she said. “Luckily, he was all up to date on his shots, and the owner was very, very nice about it.”
Daoud pointed to Colorado’s culture as a factor in the frequency of encounters.
“Colorado loves our animals. We do have a lot of animals here, and animals are a part of our families,” Daoud said.
With thousands of front-door mail deliveries happening every day, Trujillo says run-ins with dogs are nearly unavoidable, and that dogs often react to the unfamiliar sight of a carrier in uniform.
“They’re like, ‘you’re weird-shaped, you’re weird coming up to the door,’” Trujillo said. “It just freaks them out for some reason.”
Even so, she says a little extra caution from pet owners can make a big difference.
“Just try to be a good pet owner by keeping your dog away,” she said.
2025 Top 10 Cities for Dog Bites to Postal Workers
| Ranking | City | Incidents |
| 1 | Los Angeles | 70 |
| 2 | Dallas | 50 |
| 3 | Denver | 45 |
| 4 | Houston | 44 |
| 5 | Chicago | 43 |
| 6 | St. Louis | 40 |
| 7 | Indianapolis | 35 |
| 8 | San Diego | 32 |
| 9 | San Antonio | 31 |
| 10 | Cleveland | 30 |
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