Residents on Tyler Avenue in Export say they understood postal workers’ concerns about a pair of neighborhood dogs that got loose late this summer, but they also say the dogs are gone and they want their mail delivery back.
“This is the weirdest situation — no one seems to know what’s going on,” said Tyler Avenue resident Kim Webber, who said she spoke recently with the dogs’ owner.
As no charges have been filed, the Tribune-Review is not naming the pet owner.
U.S. Postal Service officials confirmed they temporarily stopped delivery to Tyler Avenue after the dogs reportedly got loose, chasing and cornering a mail carrier. Residents on the small street must drive to the Murrysville post office, roughly four miles, to pick up their mail.
Postal service Northeast Region spokesman Steve Doherty said he wishes the “dog-chasing-the-mailman” image was only a cliché.
“The reality is that we’ve had 132 instances of carriers sustaining animal bites just in Western Pennsylvania so far this year,” Doherty said.
Export animal control Officer Maria Martin, with Hideaway Kennels in Irwin, said no one from the post office ever contacted her to report the incident.
“I had officers go to her (the pet owner’s) house and meet the dogs, and they were very nice,” Martin said. “Do I believe they chased the mailman? Yes, I do. But the mailman never reported any of it.”
Webber said the dogs have been sent away and Martin and post office officials have been made aware.
“She (the pet owner) showed me the documentation that she gave to the dog catcher and the post office,” Webber said. “The post office is telling me it’s a safety issue, and I get that. But when I spoke to the mayor and to Maria (Martin), they said she just needed to provide proof that the dogs were contained, and that they had their rabies vaccinations. She said she had both of those as of Sept. 2.”
Doherty did not respond to requests for comment on when mail delivery would resume to Tyler Avenue, or about how many animal-related stoppages are in place in Western Pennsylvania. He said the post office is working with Martin “to remedy the situation.”
With the dogs gone, Webber said she can’t see what’s left to do to resume mail delivery.
“It’s going on more than two months now that we haven’t gotten our mail,” Webber said. “(The dogs) aren’t even there anymore. Everyone on the street can attest to that.”
