Mail carriers beware: After a five-year lull, Houston is once again the undisputed Dog Bite, USA.
But then, United States Postal Service workers already know this. They are the ones who put together the list, which covers fiscal 2005, the latest available figures.
The Houston District, which also includes Beaumont and Port Arthur, recorded 108 incidents in which letter carriers were bitten by dogs that year. Of those, 73 were in the Houston city limits.
Green said that in problem areas, postal officials can require a homeowner to put a mailbox at the curb or rent a post office box. The agency also can curtail delivery for an entire block if a dog is interfering with mail service.
Isn’t it about time to recognize that the way we do mail delivery IS OBSOLETE?! It is basically a government jobs program that can and should be scaled back and made more efficient. Why in the heck do we have letter carriers walking the streets, going from door to door? It would be much more efficient, and less expensive, if each 2 block area had a centralized mail delivery drop off / pick up station. That’s what they do in apartment complexes. Why not in single family residential areas? Further, this would pretty much end these dog bite incidents with the post office. When you are a stranger, and you enter the property of someone who has a dog, then you are taking a chance that a dog is going to bite you. YOU are taking the chance. It is YOUR fault for doing something so stupid. YOU could prevent it by NOT going up to the doors of strangers (the Post Office knows the solution to a biting dog... requiring some kind of postal box... they just don't want to admit that because a lot of lard could be cut from their budget, and bureaucracies like to grow, not to be efficient. Does it even make sense any more to send letters, when just a stamp costs nearly half a buck?)
Yes, yes… I hear you saying… “but, isn’t the dog owner responsible for their dogs biting people?” Yes, they are… but should the dogs be punished when strangers come on their property unannounced? They are doing what dogs do. (On the other hand, free roaming dogs are a menace, and such dogs should be rounded up and given away to responsible dog owners, if the original owners won't do something about their stray pets.)
So, let’s be realistic about the nature of dogs. Dogs are territorial, and no amount of legislation is going to change that. Our laws should be changed to reflect reality.
As the old saying goes: “If the cat doesn’t like being petted in that direction, then turn the cat around.” If nature works in a certain way, why fight nature? Change what you are doing.
But then, United States Postal Service workers already know this. They are the ones who put together the list, which covers fiscal 2005, the latest available figures.
The Houston District, which also includes Beaumont and Port Arthur, recorded 108 incidents in which letter carriers were bitten by dogs that year. Of those, 73 were in the Houston city limits.
Green said that in problem areas, postal officials can require a homeowner to put a mailbox at the curb or rent a post office box. The agency also can curtail delivery for an entire block if a dog is interfering with mail service.
Isn’t it about time to recognize that the way we do mail delivery IS OBSOLETE?! It is basically a government jobs program that can and should be scaled back and made more efficient. Why in the heck do we have letter carriers walking the streets, going from door to door? It would be much more efficient, and less expensive, if each 2 block area had a centralized mail delivery drop off / pick up station. That’s what they do in apartment complexes. Why not in single family residential areas? Further, this would pretty much end these dog bite incidents with the post office. When you are a stranger, and you enter the property of someone who has a dog, then you are taking a chance that a dog is going to bite you. YOU are taking the chance. It is YOUR fault for doing something so stupid. YOU could prevent it by NOT going up to the doors of strangers (the Post Office knows the solution to a biting dog... requiring some kind of postal box... they just don't want to admit that because a lot of lard could be cut from their budget, and bureaucracies like to grow, not to be efficient. Does it even make sense any more to send letters, when just a stamp costs nearly half a buck?)
Yes, yes… I hear you saying… “but, isn’t the dog owner responsible for their dogs biting people?” Yes, they are… but should the dogs be punished when strangers come on their property unannounced? They are doing what dogs do. (On the other hand, free roaming dogs are a menace, and such dogs should be rounded up and given away to responsible dog owners, if the original owners won't do something about their stray pets.)
So, let’s be realistic about the nature of dogs. Dogs are territorial, and no amount of legislation is going to change that. Our laws should be changed to reflect reality.
As the old saying goes: “If the cat doesn’t like being petted in that direction, then turn the cat around.” If nature works in a certain way, why fight nature? Change what you are doing.
1 comment:
Sam, this is already being done in single family home residential areas. Just about every new community being built is done this way. My community is done this way. The days of mail boxes on every house is coming to an end.
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