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Hey, the mailmen have enough crap to deal with, i.e. bad weather, heavy loads, they don't need to endure an attack from someone's pet as well. Imagine having someone jumping out and yelling "Boo!" at you as you walked around your workplace. It is unsettling! I carrried mail for a year and at least 4 times a day I had dogs lunge at me, and I was bitten once. Your dog may be friendly to you and your family, but can be a nuisance or even dangerous to strangers.

Comment by Patty — January 8, 2008 @ 10:50PM

All dogs who get loose and bite are a danger. What if it bit a small child instead of a grown man? Owners need to be held responsible for their pets not matter what breed or the size of the dog. The owner should have been fined

Comment by Cheryl — January 9, 2008 @ 04:55AM

I absolutely love the comment from this typical retarded female lap dog owner that her dog can't possibly be vicious because it's a lap dog and not a pitbull. What this stupid twat and thousands of others like her don't realize is that it's the upbringing that form a dog's behavior not its breed description. Pitbulls tend to be very good dogs provided that they are not trained to be human aggressive but Pommeranians tend to be shitty, spoiled, nippy little rats because their idiot owners treat them like children. I hope this dog gets put down to make up for all the perfectly sweet pitbulls that are put down in pounds because of stupid people like this Cheryl Switzer.

Comment by Pitbull Terrier — January 9, 2008 @ 09:04AM

'I hope this dog gets put down to make up for all the perfectly sweet pitbulls that are put down in pounds because of stupid people like this Cheryl Switzer'.
This dog should be put down because some pit bulls have been put down (???)...
Perfect logic asshole.

Comment by Ed — January 10, 2008 @ 08:41AM

As in any job, there are rules letter carriers have to follow. I am sure the letter carrier wasn't any too pleased about being bit by the dog (regardless of size or perceived vicious-ness of the animal) but the job requires you to #1: report it and #2: stop delivering till problem is addressed and solved. Yes, the letter sent (and of course not delivered) is a dumbass thing to do - (as a letter carrier I would think managers would CALL people and inform them but I know better what really happens)- but the dog owners must of known if they had two brain cells to rub together WHY they were not getting mail.... especially after the first day. Everyone thinks their animal is the best there is - until they bite - and then its always "oh, they have never done that before!" Don't put this all on the letter carrier. Nobody wants to be bit. Period. But this is also the letter carriers JOB, their bread-and-butter and they have to do it day in and day out. Don't try and blame them or screw with their job, or "report them" to the public through a newspaper article. The letter carrier didn't do one damn thing wrong here...nothing. The dog bit, the rules were followed, the people didn't like it and bitched about it, and now the managers did their little manager-dance and the mail is being delivered again. Till the next time. (Remember folks, old saying....never piss off your mailman, we never forget.)

Comment by Joy — January 12, 2008 @ 06:01PM

Growing up, we always had one or two large dogs (usually Weimaraners) because my Dad was an avid hunter, so I'm not afraid nor intimidated by dogs. My first reaction would have been to kick that little rat head over heels. I hate toy dogs; they're good for nothing. The owner should have trained the dog better. No well trained dog runs out of the house. The house where I grew up had a large front yard with a path leading from the gate to the front door. If someone came down that path while we were home, our dog Fritz would immediately clear his throat and look at my Dad. Then my Dad would say, "It's ok, boy; it's ok," and Fritz would relax. Fritz wouldn't have moved unless my Dad had said, "Go get 'em."

Comment by Robert — January 18, 2008 @ 06:06AM

"They're treating me like my dog mauled him," Switzer says. "When they intimated that they may have to have a vicious-dog hearing, I was absolutely shocked. It's not like we own a pit bull." Pit bull? Mauling? That's an irresponsible quote from a very clueless dog owner. Dogs that bite people should get a pass just because they are small? I took care of my neighbor's small dog once. When I went to feed him, he bit the shit out of my hand: deep cuts all over and a hole through my fingernail. That neighbor apologized to me up and down, just like Ms. Switzer should have done with her mail carrier. I'm not even going to get into the use of "pit bull" as synonymous for "vicious dog" except to say that the media is as much to blame as Ms. Switzer for that kind of lazy stereotyping. Quick, what kind of dogs killed Diane Whipple? Hint: not Pits.

Comment by Kristine — January 24, 2008 @ 10:03AM

A Pomeranian killed a baby just a few years ago. Any dog that bites is a problem, and I say this as the owner of three dogs, one of whom is a small Jack Russell terrier with territorial issues and a serious grievance against the UPS man.

I live in fear of the day he manages to get a nip of that dude (he's fine with everyone else, and when the UPS guy comes, I grab the dog and hold him). This woman's attitude about her dog biting someone is much too cavalier.

Comment by bluecanary — January 30, 2008 @ 02:56PM

I cannot believe the comments this woman made about that little rat not being vicious, not like her dog was a pitbull. Totally disgusted with people who haven't a care for teaching their dogs proper manners. No matter what breed the dog might be. Pitbulls are NOT the #1 breed that attacks people.
Please read the info below:

"It's not a Rottweiler problem or a pit bull problem," said Randall Lockwood, the Humane Society's vice president for research and educational outreach. "It's a people problem."
77% of dog bites are from a family or friend's pet, and 50% of attacks occur on the owner's property.(wikipedia)

In 2001, an estimated 68 million canines were kept as pets in the United States. This report is the first that uses data from an ongoing surveillance system to provide national estimates of the number of dog bite--related injuries treated in EDs. In 2001, an estimated 368,245 persons were treated for dog bites in EDs; this finding is consistent with a previous estimate of 334,000 persons treated annually for dog bites in EDs during 1992--1994. Of the estimated 368,245 persons treated for dog bites in EDs, an estimated 154,625 (42%) were aged

Comment by Tina — January 30, 2008 @ 06:32PM

The carriers in the Sunset seem incapable of even delivering to the correct address. Just a couple weeks ago, I got a stack of 40 letters dumped inside my gate (not even the mail slot) that were addressed to a neighbor. Usually it's not that bad, but we neighbors are always swapping mail because it's been delivered to the wrong address. No I don't have a dog. I just have a Sunset mail carrier that doesn't seem to be able to deliver the mail!

Comment by Seven — February 8, 2008 @ 10:26AM

Power to the post office for caring for their employee. Not the response I got from the Human Society (since they are apparently in charge) up here in Marin when I was attacked by a dog in a neighborhood I guess I had no business walking in.

Comment by Xena — February 12, 2008 @ 05:30PM

I can't stand people who think it is okay for small dogs to be vicious or ill-trained. Not a pit bull? Of course not, since SF practices breed-specific legislation or, racism, banning dogs on their looks doesn't work and neither the CDC or the ASPCA advocate BSL (PETA does). This woman and her flippant attitude to her dog's behavior is disgusting, brushing it off that she doesn't own a "pit bull"; no, she owns a dog who bites.

Comment by DF — February 12, 2008 @ 10:31PM

Yes!! I am so happy to see that these horrible owners of little vicious dogs are finally having to step up and take some responsibility. I don't care how big your dog is; if it ever lunges at and bites me, there's going to be a vicious dog hearing. If I had my way people who allow/teach their dogs to be aggressive towards people and don't manage them would be barred from owning dogs. Like someone earlier pointed out, a Pom killed a baby in L.A. in 2000, and just recently a Jack Russell did the same. Just because they are small does not mean they are not still DOGS.

Comment by Keri — February 13, 2008 @ 08:36PM