By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Dogs want to protect their human families, and that includes trying to keep the postal carrier at bay.
The U.S. Postal Service in Cleveland this summer launched a new informational campaign Safety Always Matters, and they’ve enlisted a dog mascot, aptly called Sam, to help promote the program to the public.
Sam and his service human, Danielle Ferrell, an acting safety specialist, visited the Bowling Green Post Office Wednesday morning.
Sam stood in the lobby and ever the good pooch, the mascot handed out cards to customers advising: “Even the nicest dogs can bite.”
BG Postmaster Kate Kamphuis said that “one the biggest issue challenges we face on a daily basis is dog attacks.”
In the past year there have been three or four. “Safety is paramount,” she said. She wants carriers to return home after a day’s work in the same condition they arrived in.
“Everybody thinks their dogs don’t bite,” Kamphuis said. “But dogs are protective I have three of them myself, and I know what they’re like when a stranger walks up to my door.”
Ferrell said even her dog reacts whenever it sees someone in a Postal Service uniform.
“We’re an intrusion,” Kamphuis said. Whenever they bark at people outside, those people tend to keep walking. But the postal carrier doesn’t. They stop and deliver the mail.
The Postal Service says all post boxes should be outside fences. That includes invisible fences.
The advent and increased use of those has caused more dog bites.
The postal carrier doesn’t necessarily see the sign notifying them they are crossing the electronic barrier.
Also, Ferrell said, sometimes the devices don’t work. Her dog has been nabbed by police after it left her yard despite having an invisible fence.
“If we have to stop delivery it’s for the safety of our carriers,” Kamphuis said. “We want to make sure everyone follows the same protocol, and people have their dogs restrained.”
Also, having children fetching the mail can pose a problem. The dog can view the interaction between the child and carrier as a threat.
In the summer, Ferrell said, “kids are excited to get the mail. They’re out the door and right after them is the dog.”
The Safety Always Matters campaign started with discussion in the district office about ways to promote safety.
The office had a contest to name the mascot with more about 325 employees participating.
Sam travels throughout the northern district from Youngstown to the Indiana border, from Lima to the Michigan line. The response to the program has been good, Ferrell said, and there are now discussions about expanding it across the nation.
Sam goes to schools and churches, anywhere he can spread the message.
Just walking down Main Street in Bowling Green he got attention.
But even on his rounds, Ferrell noted, Sam carries a can of dog spray with him, just in case a real dog gets the wrong idea.
