USPS: Over 5,500 Postal Employees Bitten By Dogs In 2010

It's Dog Bite Prevention Week this week (May 15-21), and the United State Postal Service has released the top cities that are bad for mail carriers based on dog bite totals from 2010.

According to the USPS, in 2010, 5,669 postal employees were attacked by dogs in more than 1,400 cities in the country. And, those attacks cost the United States Postal Service nearly $1.2 million dollars in medical expenses, pain and suffering.

So, which city is the worst for dog attacks to mail carriers? Coming in at number one is Houston, TX with 62 total dog bites in 2010. Two cities tied for the number two spot--both San Diego, CA and Columbus, OH had 45 dog bites to mail carriers. And, coming in at number three is Los Angeles, CA with 44 bites.

New York made the list, too. Coming in with 23 dog bites to letter carriers in 2010 was Buffalo, NY. Also, Jamaica had 17 bites, Flushing-15, Staten Island-14 and Brooklyn-12.

Click here for the full list of 25 cities (USPS News Release).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dogs bite 4.7 million people each year and 800,000 seek medical attention for the bites.