The United States Postal Service recently released its annual dog-attack city rankings. (Photo: Getty Images)

The United States Postal Service released on Thursday its annual ranking of cities with the most dog attacks on its employees, to call attention to safety precautions pet owners should take.

The total number of dog attacks on postal workers jumped more than 200, from 6,549 in 2015 to 6,755 in 2016. Los Angeles, with 80 reported attacks, topped the list of dog attacks by city.

“Some of these carriers are just never the same after that. If you’ve experienced a dog attack, even little kids, they’re then afraid of dogs,” U.S. Postal Service safety director Linda DeCarlo told Yahoo News.

DeCarlo lamented that a negative experience like that could rob people of otherwise great bonds with man’s best friend, emphasizing that the list is not anti-dog.

“We’re not trying to teach people to be afraid of them. We’re just trying to teach people to read the signals,” she said. “They’re protecting their property and they’re protecting their family, and we’re just trying to understand each other so that we can prevent the homeowner [from] losing their dog because they bit somebody or us not delivering mail because our carriers feel unsafe coming up to their house.”

She said the postal service analyzed dog attacks by zip code to compile the rankings and to inform letter carriers of when they might be in dangerous areas.

The United States Postal Service released the list to encourage dog owners to take steps to help keep its employees safe. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Centers for Disease Control reports that dogs bite more than 4.5 million Americans each year and that half of the victims are children.

“This is a nationwide message, not just a postal message. We’re really preaching responsible pet ownership,” she said.

DeCarlo suggested a few steps that dog owners can take to help protect postal workers: Put the dog in another room before greeting the mail carrier at your door and teach children not to take mail from the carrier directly if there’s a dog in the home.

“They’re designed to protect their family and we’re in their space. We’re near their kids and they’re just reacting the way they’re supposed to,” she said.

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The Postal Service also asks customers to indicate whether there are dogs at their homes when they schedule package pickups.

DeCarlo said postal workers undergo special training in dog-bite prevention, such as using their satchel to create a barrier between their bodies and the dog and handling non-harmful dog-repellent spray.

She said that the Postal Service added more than one million delivery points in 2016 and hired more employees so that their exposure is higher.

“The places we’re going to deliver packages and mail is increasing. When you look at the stats, the numbers are increasing but they’re not going up per every delivery,” she explained.

DeCarlo said dog bites in 2016 cost over $2 million in medical expenses and wage-loss compensation.

“6,000 people that either can’t go to their kids soccer game or have to lose time from work is a huge expense on a personal level and a financial level,” she said.

The top 30 list was released in anticipation of National Dog Bite Prevention Week, which runs from April 9 until April 15. It is comprised of 40 cities altogether because several reported the same number of attacks.

Rank City State 2016 1 LOS ANGELES CA 80 2 HOUSTON TX 62 3 CLEVELAND OH 60 4 SAN DIEGO CA 57 5 LOUISVILLE KY 51 6 DETROIT MI 48 7 DENVER CO 47 8 CHICAGO IL 46 9 INDIANAPOLIS IN 44 10 MINNEAPOLIS MN 43 11 SAN ANTONIO TX 42 12 PORTLAND OR 41 13 DALLAS TX 41 14 PHILADELPHIA PA 40 15 COLUMBUS OH 39 16 BALTIMORE MD 36 17 PHOENIX AZ 35 18 CHARLOTTE NC 33 18 MEMPHIS TN 33 18 FORT WORTH TX 33 19 ST LOUIS MO 31 19 SEATTLE WA 31 20 SACRAMENTO CA 30 20 KANSAS CITY MO 30 21 BUFFALO NY 28 22 BROOKLYN NY 27 23 ST PAUL MN 26 24 NEW ORLEANS LA 25 25 CINCINNATI OH 24 26 WICHITA KS 23 26 OAKLAND CA 23 27 LONG BEACH CA 22 27 FLUSHING NY 22 28 SAN JOSE CA 21 28 LAS VEGAS NV 21 28 AKRON OH 21 29 OKLAHOMA CITY OK 20 29 RICHMOND VA 20 30 FRESNO CA 19 30 WASHINGTON DC 19

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