Houston leads nation in postal worker dog bites

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- As a veteran postal carrier with the United States Postal Service, Johnson has a lot on his mind during his daily mail route in southwest Houston.

"When I come out and prepare for my route I'm looking to figure how much time it's going to take how much mail I actually have," postal carrier Rodney Johnson said.

At the forefront though is his safety.

"If a dog attacks, you extend the bag out in front of you," Johnson said.

But a few years back Johnson was caught off guard and he was attacked.

"The dog sprang up and sprang toward me and I didn't have an opportunity to spring back and protect myself," he said. "That's when he was able to grab me in the legs as I turned."

Houston has a statistic that local USPS officials are not proud of.

"Houston has been listed as the number one location in the nation for dog attacks and dog incidents on carriers," USPS spokeswoman Dionne Monthue said. "Last year there were more than 5,000 carriers that were bitten nationwide and Houston topped the list with more than 63 bites."

And once again it is planning to do something about it, do something about educating folks.

"I pretty sure that every postal carrier would say this, that they would wish that every dog owner would be more concerned about the postal carrier," Johnson said.