If You See A Paw Print Sticker On Your Mailbox, Leave It There

This morning we were talking about the newest stats of mail carriers being bitten by dogs, and one thing we discussed was the warning system mail carriers use for each other about the homes they deliver to.

USPS Paw Program

One such thing that our mail carriers do is the USPS Paw Program. It's a program designed to help keep our mail carriers safe from aggressive dogs. While Iowa isn't in the top few states for dog attacks on postal workers, it's still a very real danger that our mail carriers face every day.

Bright Stickers

The program is simple. USPS puts bright yellow and orange paw print stickers on not only the house a dog lives at but the house before a dog as well. This serves as a heads-up to the driver to be careful when approaching either the house after you or your house specifically.

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Delivered Explanation

But it's not just about the sticker. If you do get one, you'll also get a postcard explaining the program. This helps to spread awareness and encourage everyone to be a part of keeping our mail carriers safe.

Successful Program

The program has been successful in other markets when it's used along with "local alerts as postal employees approach the house and written notification cards within the mail". It's a small thing that we can all do to help our mail carriers, and it all starts with a colorful paw print on our mailbox.

So if you find a colorful paw print on your mailbox, it's best to just leave it there. It's not just a sticker, it's a symbol of a community coming together to keep each other safe. And that's something we should all be proud to be a part of.