May 15-21 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week and the perfect opportunity to reach out to your clients with reminders about how to prevent dog bites. Luckily, practice resources are available.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is offering free, downloadable photos you can use to customize your practice’s social media profile. And if you’re an AVMA member, you can also download free pre-written social media posts, all related to National Dog Bite Prevention Week.

To kick off the week, on May 11, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced its annual dog bite statistics, noting that dogs attacked 6,549 employees last year. Houston was the “winner” at 77 bites, and Fort Worth and San Antonio came in last at 39 bites.

This is nearly 800 more incidents compared to last year, according to The Washington Post.

As a result of the increase in dog bite incidents, the USPS is initiating several new measures.

Effective May 13, usps.com’s Package Pickup customer must indicate if there is a dog at the pickup address when they schedule a package pickup.

The second measure, which goes into effect later this year, relates to the Mobile Delivery Devices letter carriers use. It will include a feature that allows carriers to indicate the presence of a dog on site, an especially helpful feature for substitute carriers.

Photo credit: © iStock/Monique Wilson