Dog Bites & Animal Attacks on the Route

USPS reported around 5,200 dog attacks on its employees in a recent year, down from roughly 6,000 the year before — and attacks topped 6,700 in a peak year. For the more than 300,000 letter carriers delivering to millions of doors every day, that risk isn't abstract. It's a real, well-documented part of the job, and it's one of the most common single incidents we see behind a psychological evaluation.

How common this actually is

• USPS recorded around 5,200 dog attacks on employees in a recent year, following roughly 6,000 the year before
• Attacks are heaviest in the Midwest — Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Ohio consistently report the highest rates per household
• California, Texas, and Ohio lead the state rankings, with California alone logging over 700 attacks in a recent year
• The average insurance claim for a dog bite runs over $64,000 — a figure USPS itself cites when explaining why the issue is taken seriously

How it shows up after the fact

• A lasting wariness on the specific block, street, or house where it happened
• A startle response to barking, movement at the edge of a yard, or even the sound of a gate
• Avoiding a route, or asking to be reassigned, in a way that feels disproportionate to a single incident
• Sleep disruption or intrusive replaying of the moment in the days and weeks after
• Irritability or anxiety that shows up on shift and doesn't fully settle once the shift ends

What the research actually supports

The research directly connecting dog bites to a specific adult PTSD rate is inconsistent — you'll find figures anywhere from under 10% to over 50% depending on the source, and much of it isn't peer-reviewed. What is well established, including in peer-reviewed pediatric research, is that a dog attack is a recognized trauma exposure capable of producing genuine PTSD symptoms, and that severity of injury and any facial or highly visible injury tend to predict a stronger psychological reaction. In practice, this means we don't lean on a specific statistic to evaluate your case — we evaluate your actual symptoms against your actual incident, the same way we would for any other single-event trauma.

Treatment through our practice

Depending on your symptoms, a dog attack most often supports a PTSD or Circumstantial Traumatic Stress Response evaluation. Once a condition is accepted, ongoing telehealth counseling with a state-licensed counselor is billed directly through OWCP.

Sources

USPS National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign data (about.usps.com, news.usps.com); NBC News analysis of USPS dog attack data; Review of psychological effects of dog bites in children, BMJ Paediatrics Open.