A neighborhood dog has reportedly attacked three different postal carriers there over the last two years. After the most recent attack last month, the U.S. Postal Service took the rare step of suspending mail service in that neighborhood. Dog bite victims do have rights. This is the second time mail service has been suspended in the Lazy Spring Acres subdivision. The U.S. Postal Service says a dog named “Duke” has bitten two carriers, three times, in the last two years. Residents said they are not happy about having to go the post office to get their mail.
Most U.S. states make dog owners liable when a dog bites a person. The Houston Department of Health and Human Services provides a simple explanation about the city’s leash laws on their website. To answer the question, yes, it is against the local laws for dogs and cats to “run at large” in Houston. Dogs entering onto private or public property without a human having physical control of them are running at large. If a dog is on a leash, that qualifies as the person having physical control over the animal. If not on a leash, dogs must be either behind a fence or in some other type of secure enclosure which won’t allow for their escape.
How is this dog still at large? Usually we hear about over-zealousness on the part of dogcatchers, but if this dog is repeatedly biting people, how are the owners being allowed to permit this to continue?