Postal carriers learn how to avoid dog bites

Minneapolis animal control officers are teaching postal carriers an on-the-job important survival tool: how to avoid dog bites.

Minneapolis Animal Care and Control is conducting the training for about 50 U.S. postal carriers Thursday morning at the Lowry Avenue Post Office. The agency says there have been 72 reported dog bites in Minneapolis in 2010 and that children, mail carriers and delivery persons represent a significant portion of bite victims.

The training aims to teach mail carriers to not only avoid dog bites but to report dangerous dogs on their route. Animal Care and Control says dangerous dogs can be indicators of underlying criminal activity at a household, including gangs, drugs or domestic violence.

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