This is National Dog Bite Prevention Week, and no group welcomes its arrival more than the U.S. Postal Service.
According to postal officials, 3,249 letter carriers were on the losing end of run-ins with dogs along their routes last year. That was 180 fewer than in 2004 and 494 fewer than in 2003.
Still, anyone toting mail six days a week will tell you that even one bite is too many.
Rather than hound us about this matter all year long, the Postal Service has chosen this week to issue a tipsheet we can all sink our teeth into.
To avoid a bite:
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- Do not run past dogs, since their natural instinct is to pursue you.
- If a dog becomes threatening, avoid screaming or making eye contact and do not move until the dog leaves.
- Do not approach strange dogs.
- Always let a dog see and sniff you before attempting to pet it (and ask the owner first).
- If a dog attacks, try to put an object (a chair, a backpack, a bicycle) between you and the animal.
Associated Press
Fake tickets, real jail?
NEW YORK - A city traffic agent has been charged with writing dozens of fraudulent parking tickets - sometimes while sitting miles away from the bogus violations she cited, prosecutors said.
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Nivea Cloud was accused of writing 27 tickets in three hours in seven locations on May 12, inventing infractions just one to four minutes apart in the same place, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. She could face up to four years in jail.
"As a municipal worker entrusted with such enormous financial powers over motorists and a duty and responsibility to uphold the law, the defendant's alleged conduct is outrageous," Brown said in a news release announcing the charges.
Associated Press
Exotic chicken saved by CPR clucks out
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - The exotic chicken saved from drowning by mouth-to-beak resuscitation more than three months ago has died, her owner said.
Boo Boo, a chicken revived after she was found floating face down in the family pond in February, recently died, said owner Jackie Calhoun. The fowl's story was featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Animal Planet network.
"She had seizures," Calhoun said. "I've come to the conclusion that's what put her in the pond in the first place."
Associated Press
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