Dog bite incidents are serious and in many areas of the country, they are becoming more common than previously.
In order to help people prevent dog bite and other dog-related attacks, the National Dog Bite Prevention Week Coalition has announced that it would change the dates for the American Veterinary Medical Association’s National Dog Bite Prevention Week to the period between April 9 and 15.
Please let your dog know we are friendly neighborhood workers and National Dog Bite Prevention Week is coming soon. 🙂 ^BRS
— USPS Help (@USPSHelp) March 30, 2017
During the upcoming week, the National Dog Bite Prevention Week Coalition, which is comprised of the U.S. Postal Service, State Farm Insurance, and the American Veterinary Medical Association, will be using a series of venues to raise awareness about the importance of being responsible about pet ownership.
Since pets are a great addition to any family, and dogs can be especially great for children and the elderly as a means to provide companionship, we hope that this type of campaign will help people understand that as a living animal, a dog can bring us a great deal of happiness, but if we’re not responsible owners and we’re not willing to make sure that they are properly taken care of, they might become aggressive — especially among children.
Over the past decade, insurance companies like State Farm have paid nearly $1 billion for claims involving dog bite incidents. Two years ago, the postal service reported 6,549 dog bite incidents involving their carriers across the country during the entire year.
If dogs are loose and threatening, the owner may have to go to the post office to pick up his or her mail until the dog has been properly restrained.
In order to ensure that dog owners are training their pets correctly so they are not exposing anybody to any risks — which could be costly — we want to alert our readers and clients that having a well-trained dog means making sure they are socialized and well behaved. Unfortunately, many dog bite incidents involve pets that are familiar to the victims. Ensuring your loved ones and friends are safe around your dog means knowing how to identify signs of aggression in their animals. Recognizing those signs will help you to be ready to avoid a serious incident at your own home.
For more on how the National Dog Bite Prevention Week will help to raise awareness to the risks associated with aggressive dogs, follow this link.
