Hundreds of Northern Colorado residents lose mail delivery after dog bites mailman

Hundreds of residents in Northern Colorado have not had their mail delivered for more than a week after a dog bit a mail carrier. Fort Collins residents in the Collins Aire Manufactured Housing Community, north of Mulberry and east of Old Town, have not received any mail delivery service from the United States Postal Service since March 22.

Residents reached out to CBS News Colorado's Northern Colorado reporter Dillon Thomas in hope of getting answers as to why their mail was still not being delivered more than one week later.

Several residents, including Terri Kelly, said they were confused as to why the entire neighborhood was being denied mail delivery over a dog bite that happened at one specific home.

"We have a clubhouse, and there are a bunch of individual mailboxes for the 300 and something houses that are in here," Kelly said.

Now, those mailboxes are covered in notices from the landlord saying that the USPS has refused to deliver their mail for the time being because of the incident.

 However, the home in which the dog bite occurred is two blocks away from the community clubhouse where all of the standard mail is delivered. Residents said they were not sure why the mailman that was attacked was delivering mail directly to a home when there are mailboxes for both letters and packages located at the clubhouse.

CBS News Colorado reached out to the USPS seeking interview for this story. A spokesperson issued a statement acknowledging that mail delivery to the neighborhood was temporarily paused as USPS tries to make sure it is safe for both their carriers and the community to have the mail delivered.

Until deliveries return, residents are being told to pick up their mail at the Old Town post office, a location which is more than four miles away.

"We have elderly that may not be able to make it up there," Kelly said. "We have a neighbor over here that rides the bus everywhere he goes. I don't know if he's making his way down there or not."

Some residents reportedly have had to wait up to 45 minutes to pick up their mail at the post office, according to Kelly. She said she worries that some residents are going to start missing important items in their mail due to their inability to visit the post office as it is open during hours in which many residents are working.

"It is going to be the beginning of the month. There are a lot that are going to be getting their Social Security checks," Kelly said.

USPS said their carriers are regularly trained on how to navigate their delivery duties safely while also respecting the territory of a dog. Among things like keeping eyes on dogs and never assuming a dog won't bite, USPS said they also train their carriers to make sounds as they enter a property like making sure the gate opening is loud enough to notify any possible pet on the property.

Kelly said she is sending her well wishes to the carrier that was bitten by the dog and hopes they have a complete recovery. However, she said she does not understand why the entire community cannot have mail delivered to the clubhouse when the location of the attack was two blocks away.

USPS also provided standard guidance to CBS News Colorado saying it isn't uncommon for an entire community to temporarily lose delivery privileges after an isolated dog bite. However, there was not an explanation provided as to what constitutes a severe enough of an attack for an entire community to lose delivery as opposed to just one home.

USPS said they plan to run a summer messaging campaign called "Don't bite the hand that serves you," which is expected to better inform residents across the country how to make sure their dogs do not end up in a similar situation with a carrier.

"On March 22, one of our letter carriers was bitten by an unrestrained dog while on duty. In accordance with our established safety policies, we have temporarily curtailed mail delivery to that address and surrounding neighborhood to ensure the wellbeing of our employees," a spokesperson for USPS wrote. "As an immediate measure, we contacted the dog's owner to address the issue and collaborate on the necessary steps to mitigate any further risks. We are monitoring the situation and will resume mail delivery once we are fully assured that the dog no longer poses a threat, ensuring safe conditions for both our carriers and the community."