Neighborhood still not getting mail over pit bull

Last Update: 6/18 6:21 pm

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WICHITA, Kansas – A mail carrier in Wichita is worried about his safety because of a pit bull. Earlier in the week, KSN reported that mail service to the entire block was suspended because of it. Now, postal officials are explaining their decision.

Max is a pit bull who is a family dog. He’s high strung and recently broke his chain to go after the mail carrier, resulting in Max being pepper sprayed. So now there is no mail delivery to the entire block.

“I wouldn't say we do this every day,” said Postmaster Brenda Bishop. “We take it pretty seriously when we cut off somebody's mail. But, we also take our carrier's safety very seriously.”

Bishop says the mail carrier felt threatened on a regular basis and that the carrier used post office issued pepper spray to back off the dog. Now, some neighbors are growing weary of driving to the post office to pick up their mail.

“Just the whole process of wasting the gas money to go down there for something that I didn't do, personally,” said neighbor Phillip Carbone. “And I think the whole neighborhood is pretty much mad about the situation.”

The post office says the neighborhood may put pressure on the dog owner to restrain the dog in a way that allows the mail carrier to feel safe. It’s a tactic that’s been used before.

“When the carrier can't walk down the street and deliver mail safely, then we send out cooperation letters to the neighborhood,” Bishop said.

Bishop says in this case a good fence would suffice to make the mail carrier feel safe.

The dog owner already moved their mail box and changed their address to have their mail delivered across the street and away from the dog, which the dog owner feels should be enough.

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