|
||||||||||||
|
|
If dog is loose, Minneapolis Postal carriers won't deliver
Rain, snow, sleet or hail won't stop the intrepid men and women of the U.S. Postal Service. Loose dogs are another matter. A rash of dog maulings, and 16 attacks on carriers in just four months has the Minneapolis Postmaster delivering an unmistakable message. Secure those dogs, or you won't get mail. "I'm telling my carriers if that dog is out, don't deliver the mail," bottom-lined Postmaster Cindy Larson, "and if it happens more than once, they won't get mail delivery. They'll have to rent a post office box, or move their box for delivery down to the street." If a dog is loose and running the block, an entire neighborhood could go without delivery until the situation is remedied. Carrier Brenda Brown agrees with her boss wholeheartedly. The 14 year veteran likes everything about her job delivering to homes in North Minneapolis, except dangerous dogs. "I don't like the dogs," she admitted. "When they come out, it just scares me. I've been bit twice, one broke the skin, the other one didn't." The city of Minneapolis echoes the position of the post office, vowing to do whatever they can, both financially and criminally, to protect the public from dangerous dogs. "Folks get these large breed dogs that look intimidating," Tom Doty of Minneapolis Animal Care and Control reflected. "They think they're getting a cheap alarm system, they're really not getting a cheap alarm system, they're really getting a lot of liability on their hands." Minneapolis requires owners of dogs labeled as dangerous to carry large insurance policies, in case of an attack. Doty trains postal carriers in how to react when approached by an animal that could be dangerous. His suggestions: If it approaches aggressively: Doty reminds all Minneapolis residents that if they see a dog running loose, especially one that looks threatening, call 311 and have an animal control officer dispatched.
|
 MORE HEADLINES |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
