Dog-At-Home

June 18, 2020

It’s a solution to a decades-old problem: the fight between dangerous dogs and mail carriers.

Now the post office is hoping to make a big difference, with a small effort.

A new program is trying to avoid a sticky situation, while also raising awareness.

You may have noticed something new in-front of your house: little stickers, for those with dogs at home.

Bryan Hamilton has been a postal carrier for 14 years. But for some houses in Owensboro on Wednesday, he’s bringing something new with the mail.

“The name of the initiative is PAWS,” explained Alan Lewis, Kentuckiana Safety Manager for the United States Postal Service. “A labeling system, if you will, a sticker system. It just indicates there’s a dog there.”

“The house before where a dog is, with a yellow sticker. To let a carrier know the next house they’re coming to that there is a dog there,” Hamilton added.

“Orange sticker. Indicating there is a dog present inside,” Lewis continued.

Hamilton is sharing with those on his route what they’re for. The USPS has postcards with the info–but he also does it in person.

“It doesn’t mean the dog’s vicious. I’ve never had any trouble with your dogs,” he said to pet owner Edward Schifflet. “It’s not that. Like a carrier that’s not familiar, when those dogs hit the door. it startles them. it scares them. it just gives them a head up that there’s a dog here.”

“‘Cause there’s a lot of dogs that run the neighborhood,” Schifflet said. “So we don’t know what they’re like. They won’t come to you. Some of them won’t, some of them do. Some of them are to the point where they’re big enough that they’re going to scare people. I think that’s a great idea.”

With people staying socially distant, they aren’t just getting more mail.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic especially, people are home. Kids are home. They’re spending more time out in the yard with this nicer weather. We are seeing more dogs out in yards. It is very common, meaning more of the possibility of a negative encounter,” Hamilton explained.

Lewis added: “The community doesn’t really understand how many dog bites we face. In the Kentuckiana area that I oversee, in the past 10 years, we’ve had close to 1,000 dog bites. So that’s an astronomical number. So if we can avoid one, that’s saving a lot of money, that’s saving a lot of time, and that’s saving a lot of heartache for folks.”

So, the stickers, for anyone who drops by–

“It’s actually not just for our carriers. It’s for the police department, fire department, pizza man. Peace of mind, if you will.” Lewis listed.

–a heads up to stay safe.

The stickers will appear across counties around the Ohio River in both Kentucky and Indiana.

  • Most Recent News

    Former Victoria man’s diabetic alert dog helps him get back to life

    June 2, 2021

    When Luke Hengen’s diabetes worsened in his early twenties, it stripped him of the outdoor activities where the country kid felt at home. Countless wilderness adventures and years of hard-fought football games took a toll on his body, to the point where he could no longer sense when his blood sugar was too high or […]

    Read more

    Students Get Therapy Dog

    January 8, 2021

    When middle school students return to class on Jan. 11, they’ll find a new face at the door: Daisy. Daisy is a therapy dog and the personal pet of Rob Kreger, principal of the Rock L. Butler Middle School. The five-year-old golden retriever is not a school pet or mascot, but rather a working dog […]

    Read more

    Therapy Dogtor

    January 8, 2021

    Last March, Caroline Benzel, a third-year medical student, began to notice the stress and discomfort her nurse friends were feeling from the pressures of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “[Personal protective equipment] can be really rough on the skin,” Benzel, 31, tells PEOPLE. Benzel and her 3-year-old Rottweiler, Loki (who’s also a therapy dog) hatched a […]

    Read more

    Therapy Dog Pups

    January 8, 2021

    When Stanley the miniature fox terrier’s owner passed away, the little dog started a ‘paw-some’ new role – bringing puppy love to some of the Gold Coast’s oldest residents. After Carinity Cedarbrook Diversional Therapist Julianne Staff adopted Stanley, he began visiting the aged care community at Mudgeeraba as a therapy dog. Therapy dogs help to […]

    Read more

    Puppy Cams

    January 7, 2021

    A nonprofit is providing an unusual form of therapy for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic – puppy cams! “You spend five minutes with a puppy and try not to smile,” said registered nurse Robin Lingg Lagrone. Lingg Lagrone says watching little furballs wag their tails and prance on their paws helps […]

    Read more

    Pet Committee

    January 7, 2021

    When Moore County’s school doors were abruptly closed earlier in 2020, two- and four-legged volunteers from the Moore County Citizens’ Pet Responsibility Committee (PRC) were in their 12th year of presenting a six-session Pet Responsibility Education Program for fourth-graders. The PRC quickly shifted gears and placed its program materials online as part of a home […]

    Read more

    The Right Rescue Dog

    January 7, 2021

    If your New Year’s resolution is to add a canine family member, good for you. Somewhere out there is the perfect puppy or adult dog for your family. You have a lot of things to think about when you begin to look for that new family member, puppy or dog? Large or small? Purebred or […]

    Read more

    Police Dog Attack

    January 7, 2021

    A resolution headed to the Duluth City Council on Monday could put to rest a lawsuit filed by Teri Lynn Ehlers, an employee of the Patch Motel, who was bitten by a Duluth police dog named Oakley. Former Duluth Police Officer Marc Johnson was a registered guest of the Warroad establishment May 28, 2018, when […]

    Read more

    PAWS With A Cause

    January 7, 2021

    Pebble Hill Plantation and the Thomas County Public Library are pleased to announce the upcoming Enlightening Bites program, “PAWS With a Cause,” on Friday, January 8, 2021 at noon in the Flipper Room of the Library. The program is being presented by Jeri Anderson, field representative. Anderson is recently retired from the City of Monticello, […]

    Read more

    Police Canine Team

    January 7, 2021

    Kingston Police revealed in a news release late Wednesday afternoon that they’ve been keeping a four-legged secret for roughly three months. The force announced it added a second canine unit, with the arrival of police service dog Dak this past October. He is working with Const. Jeff Dickson, while police service dog Bask is working […]

    Read more

    More Recent News