Incidents involving dog attacks on U.S. Postal Service employees rose to more than 6,000 cases last year.

As part of the 2025 USPS National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign, the organization is offering information on how dog owners can help ensure the safety of its employees.

The monthlong campaign begins Sunday with the theme, “Secure Your Dog, Keep Deliveries on Track.”

“The best way to keep safe from dog attacks is to recognize and promote the responsibility of pet ownership, such as teaching your dog appropriate behavior and commands and not allowing your dog to roam freely. All dogs — regardless of breed, size or age — have the potential to bite,” said Leeann Theriault, USPS employee safety and health awareness manager. “Dog bite attacks on postal employees are preventable. The most important message for our customers to remember during the 2025 USPS National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign is keep your dog secured and away from the carrier as the mail is being delivered. Help ensure the safety of everyone in our communities.”

Even dogs that have never shown signs of aggression can react in ways their owners don’t expect. They can act without warning on their instinct to protect their owners and their owners’ property. Dogs may attack not only to defend their territory, but also when they feel startled, anxious or unwell. It’s not just about bad or aggressive dogs — it’s about unpredictable moments.

Most people know the approximate time their letter carrier arrives every day. Securing your dog before the carrier approaches your property will minimize any potentially dangerous interactions.

Keep your dog in a separate room or area away from the door when the mail carrier comes to your house. If you go outside, close the door firmly behind you and make sure it is secured so your dog doesn’t slip out or bust through it unexpectedly. If you are outside with your dog while mail is being delivered, make sure your dog is secured away from the mail carrier and on a leash. Never accept the mail from your mail carrier in the presence of your dog.

Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier because the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child.

When a postal employee suffers an injury from a dog attack, it can cost the dog owner thousands of dollars because they could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee.

“Customers may not consider their dog a danger to others, however, to a letter carrier like me, all dogs can be considered a threat when delivering the mail,” said Jonah Helfrich, a Blue Bell, Pa., letter carrier. “I was recently delivering mail and a dog barged through a door and bit me on the wrist, which required me to seek medical treatment. I strongly encourage all dog owners to take precautions to make sure their dog is secure when mail is being delivered.”

Mail carriers are trained to observe an area where they know dogs may be present. They are taught to be alert for potentially dangerous conditions and to respect a dog’s territory.

If a dog attacks, carriers are also trained to stand their ground and protect their body by placing something between them and the dog — such as a mail satchel — and to use dog repellent, if necessary.

Mail carriers have tools to alert them to dogs on their routes. A dog alert feature on carriers’ handheld scanners can remind them of a possible dog hazard, and dog warning cards must be used during mail sorting to alert carriers to addresses where a dog may interfere with delivery.

When a carrier feels unsafe, mail service can be stopped. Until the carrier feels safe enough to restart delivery, the mail will have to be picked up at the dog owner’s local post office.

If a carrier feels a house or neighborhood is unsafe to deliver the mail and there is no way to inform residents their mail service has been suspended, the residents would have to contact the supervisor at their local post office for more information. The residents would also have to pick up their mail at the post office until it is safe to resume delivery.

If a dangerous dog issue is not resolved, owners can be required to rent a post office box to receive mail.

Pennsylvania ranked sixth in its number of dog attacks in 2024, logging 316 reports.