Dog attacks halt mail service to neighborhood

Letter carriers on Division Ave. in Harrison Twp. must approach this home to deliver mail. This neighborhood has received 50 dog warning cards by the post office which makes the area potentially dangerous for postal carriers. Jim Noelker/Dayton Daily News

JIM NOELKER/Harrison Twp. dangerous for mail Letter carriers on Division Ave. in Harrison Twp. must approach this home to deliver mail. This neighborhood has received 50 dog warning cards by the post office which makes the area potentially dangerous for postal carriers. Jim Noelker/Dayton Daily News

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By Kelli Wynn, Staff Writer Updated 2:44 PM Friday, October 22, 2010

DAYTON — A high number of dog bites has prompted the U.S. Postal Service to temporarily or permanently stop mail delivery in some Dayton area neighborhoods.

For example, roaming pit bulls prompted the Northridge Station to temporarily stop mail delivery on Oneida Drive and Ontario, Gipsy and Division avenues, said David Walton, postal service spokesman.

A pit bull on the loose recently bit letter carrier Brad Grubb on the forearm while he was in the 2400 block of Oneida Drive. Grubb used pepper spray to try to get the dog to let him go.

“He was just unaffected by the spray,” Grubb said. The pit bull lost interest in the attack when he noticed a female pit bull in the area.

“Pit bulls seem to be the dog of choice in the Northridge delivery area,” Walton said.

Northridge Station Supervisor Geoffrey Estes said his station receives at least one call a week from letter carriers who have been attacked or threatened by vicious dogs.

“They have issued some 52 dog-warning cards on two delivery routes. One address alone has six pit bulls,” Walton said.

In the Dayton View neighborhood, dog bite incidents climbed to eight for fiscal year 2009-2010 from two in the previous fiscal year. On Sept. 28, a pit bull rushed out of a Dayton View home after its owner opened the door to get mail from a carrier. The dog bit the carrier on the shoulder, Walton said.

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