57 Postal Workers Attacked By Dogs In San Diego Last Year

A report has recently been released by the United States Postal Service (USPS) regarding injuries received by postal workers while out on their rounds delivering the daily post. It appears that every year there are thousands of attacks by dogs against post deliverers and at least 57 took place in San Diego in 2016.

Overall throughout the country at least 6,755 USPS workers were dog attack victims. This was a 3 percent increase from 2015.

In California, Los Angeles experienced the most, with 80 incidences of such attacks, followed by Houston then Cleveland. 4^th was San Diego and 5^th Louisville, Kentucky. These numbers are collected from reports made by employees to their local postal service branches.

Mark Saunders, a postal service spokesperson, said that particularly in densely populated urban areas such attacks were quite commonplace due to the high levels of dog ownership. Linda DeCarlo, the USPS Director of Safety, stated that even seemingly well-behaved dogs have their off days and can turn on a person and wage an attack. She said that training dogs not to bite is an important part of ensuring both pets and people remain safe.

If a mail deliverer feels threatened by a dog and reports the matter the owner may be asked to pick up his or her mail at the local post office.

There are approximately 4.5 million dog bite incidences throughout the country annually and at least 20 percent become infected. Over 50 percent of dog-bite injuries take place at home, with dogs familiar to the victims.

Dog Bite Law in San Diego

In San Diego, the one bite law does not hold as in some other states and in California a dog owner whose dog bites someone in a public place or a private place where that person is entitled to be is strictly liable. This doesn’t cover trespassers or if someone is bitten by a police or military dog.  If a dog owner hires a dog walker, that person is not liable if the dog bites someone while in his or her care. San Diego County, under the “leash law,” states that the dog has to be restrained in a public place.

The dog owner must report a dog bite

A county ordinance in San Diego states that the owner of the dog must report a dog bite incident to San Diego’s Department of Health immediately. This is so the offending dog can be kept under surveillance for 2 weeks to check to make sure it doesn’t have rabies.

Types of injuries from dog bites

Dogs tend to go for the face when about to bite a victim. This can result in serious injuries like

• severe facial lacerations
• puncture wounds caused by the dog’s teeth
• disfigurement and scarring
• wound infections
• emotional distres;
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• fractured and broken bones when the victim falls over as he or she tries to retreat

A lawsuit can be filed by a dog bite victim

There are a couple of activities where it may not be possible to file a lawsuit when bitten by a dog and these include when the victim was trespassing and intended to commit a crime or the dog bite victim provoked the dog and subsequently was bitten or the victim knew the dog was potentially dangerous but still went near to or approached the animal.

San Diego dog bite attorney

If you have been bitten by a dog and it wasn’t your fault after your immediate treatment you should contact a dog bite attorney at San Diego’s Hamparyan Injury Lawyers. There is a time limit set in Section 335.1 of the California Code of Civil Procedure stating that all personal injury lawsuits have to be filed within 2 years of the event otherwise you lose your right to file a lawsuit.

An attorney at the Hamparyan Injury Lawyers will endeavor to calculate a fair settlement for you based on the cost of medical treatment, loss of wages while recovering and the amount of pain and suffering you have had to endure due to your dog bite.