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Jesus Toledo lost part of an ear and a portion of his thumb. Sept. 28, 2015. (CBS Chicago) Rosemary Regina SobolContact Reporter Chicago Tribune A postal worker on his route came to the rescue of a buddy, a UPS employee, when a pit bull attacked him in Chicago's Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side on Friday morning, officials said. The postal worker jumped on the dog, pulled the animal off of UPS worker Jesus Toledo and held on to it until help arrived, according to officials. The attack occurred about 10:30 a.m. in the 1900 block of North Cicero Avenue. The dog involved was a black and white female pit bull terrier about a year old, said Brad Powers, a spokesman for the city’s department of Animal Care and Control. Toledo suffered injuries to his ear, head, forearm, hands and ankle, and underwent surgery at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, according to Dan McMackin, a spokesman for UPS. He was "conscious and speaking after the attack," he said in an email. … [Read more...]

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — A Southaven Animal Shelter employee and animal control officer are recovering from dog bite wounds Tuesday. Southaven Animal Shelter Director Perry Mason confirmed the dog attack happened Saturday, and one of the workers has remained in the hospital. Mason said the shelter employee opened up a pitbull’s kennel to clean it and feed him. “He grabbed her leg and just would not let go,” Mason said. An officer who was working ran to help.He pulled the dog off the employee’s leg, but not before the dog bit him too on the left forearm. Mason said the dog’s aggressive behavior came out of nowhere. “He’s been neutered. We have all taken him for walks. He has sat in the office. We have done everything humanly possible to predict his behavior,” Mason said. The employee who the dog bit in the leg has undergone a couple surgeries. She was still in the hospital at the time WREG interviewed Mason Tuesday. To those who wonder if this was an issue of improper training, Mason said … [Read more...]

Ameren Illinois is appealing to customers after a series of dog attacks resulting in serious injuries to workers. Company spokesman Brian Bretsch said Thursday that there have about a half-dozen attacks the last few months, primarily involving dogs that have been allowed to run loose. But he said workers also have been attacked by dogs chained or tied to utility equipment, including power poles. Worker injuries requiring emergency room treatment and antibiotics have included puncture wounds, scratches and a broken wrist. "It's the time of year when people are home more and dogs are out more," Bretsch said. "We're basically asking customers to do their part to keep our workers safe, as well as the neighborhood children." Most of the attacks have occurred at homes and have been spread across Ameren Illinois territory, Bretsch said. Ameren Illinois serves 1.2 million electric and 816,000 natural gas customers in central and southern Illinois. There have been 40 dog attacks in the last … [Read more...]

Should pit bulls be outlawed in the city of Dallas? Some city council members said yes, after hearing from officials with the U.S. Postal Service.Local postal workers have been working with the city to help control vicious dogs. Randall Joines, an area manager for the Postal Service, told the council, “In a press release issued by the Postal Headquarters this week, the City of Dallas ranked 5th worst in the nation in calendar year 2014 – recording 43 letter carrier dog bites or attacks.” Letter Carrier Sierra Pryor is still recovering from a pit bull attack in March. Recalling her attack she said, “The dog burst through the screen door and immediately latched onto my right leg. It took two assistants to pull the animal off of me.” As a part of National Dog Bite Prevention Week the Postal Service is also working to educate the public by providing prevention tips to help avoid dog bites. Three important tips are: If a letter carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place … [Read more...]

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” can stop the United States Postal Service’s 617,000 postal workers from delivering over 155 billion pieces of mail per year. But there’s one thing that can stop a mail carrier in their tracks — a snarling, territorial dog. Now, new statistics show that last year, letter carriers were bitten by dogs 5,767 times. The statistics were released as part of an annual dog attack report prepared by the USPS. The number is up slightly from last year, when 5,581 bites were recorded. Though they’re only a fraction of the roughly 4.4 million dog bites that occur in the United States each year, they’re a real problem for postal workers whose jobs involve bringing mail to homes that can host aggressive dogs. Los Angeles had the most dog-on-mail-carrier incidents in 2014 (74 attacks), followed by Houston (62), San Diego (47) and Chicago (45). USPS Service Manager of Safety Linda DeCarlo notes that though owners often refuse to believe their dogs will … [Read more...]

Monday WOWT 6 News obtained security video of a dog attack at Millard Central Middle School. The Nebraska Humane Society said the dog shown in the video has a violent past, and officials were not aware the dog was in Omaha, let alone on school grounds. The dog had been officially labeled as a potentially dangerous animal due to previous violent episodes. In the video, recorded April 2, a school counselor/teacher approaches a door inside a vestibule. He opens the door in an attempt to “shoo” the dog, named Sam, away. At that moment, the dog attacks the school employee. The employee quickly makes his way back inside. School officials said students were outside playing at the time of the attack. The employee told the Nebraska Humane Society the dog’s bite didn't catch his leg, just his clothing. But, what the Humane Society said is most concerning, is the fact that this attack should have never happened.“This owner, for almost a year and a half period, did not follow city ordinances … [Read more...]