Canada Post is appealing to Prince George dog owners to prevent dog bites after a local postal carrier suffered two bites in her first seven months on the job in P.G.
Prince George is the third community Dawn Rasmussen has moved to since she began delivering mail about two-and-and-a-half years ago and this is the only one where she's been attacked.
"Fortunately, it hasn't stopped me or made me overly afraid but it's just unfortunate, basically," Rasmussen said.
The first attack occurred in March when she was delivering in the Hart.
"I always scan the yard for dogs and there was nothing and then as I was coming back out, I actually heard this growling and barking and thought 'Oh, geez, I hope that thing is on a leash,'" Rasmussen said. "And sure enough it came up behind me and bit me in the back of the leg."
Rasmussen, who provides fill-in service for carriers on vacation or off sick, received a puncture wound and service to the home was temporarily suspended.
The second attack happened on Tuesday when Rasmussen was nearly finished her route and was approached by two dogs from a home not on her route where the owner was building a fence.
The dogs were called back a first time while she turned back to deliver to a handful of remaining houses and then she returned to the spot where they were first encountered to wait for a taxi.
"They approached me again and I'm thinking 'Well, they've already seen me once and it was less than 10 minutes ago,' and sure enough one of them went behind me and gave me a nice bite just out of the blue," she said.
Rasmussen was taken to the hospital with a painful bite to her rear and had to go on antibiotics. She's back at work now.
"I'm not one to sit around," Rasmussen quipped.
She also said the owner was helpful and stood by her as she waited to get a taxi to the hospital.
The dog in the first attack has since been put down, but owners don't have to go to that extreme to keep them away from postal carriers.
Canada Post spokeswoman Lillian Salchner advised owners to keep their dogs inside or in a fenced yard and away from the line of travel to the mail box.
"If you are opening a screen door for the letter carrier to sign something, make sure your dog is in a room or that you're holding onto the dog because a lot of times we've had incidents where the dog has charged through the screen door or slipped through the crack of the screen door and has bitten a letter carrier," Salchner said.
Typically, service to the home is suspended until the owner Canada Post has received a letter outlining measures to prevent a repeat occurrence.
Employees are trained to scan their routes for dogs and stickers are put on mail packages for homes where dogs live to give carriers the heads up.
In the first 18 days this month, Canada Post employees have reported 41 dog bites across the country and the risk of bites increases in the summer when more dogs are outside for longer periods of time and back-up carriers unfamiliar to dogs are delivering mail for those on vacation.
