Ed Sattler’s dog, Zelda, grabs the mail as the postal carrier pushes it through the mail slot on the front door of his house Turner Street NW in Grand Rapids. Zelda is a trained service dog and one of her responsibilities is to received Sattler’s mail as he is confined to a motorized chair and his bed due to a debilitating disease. If the mail falls to the floor before the dog goes to get it it is much for difficult if not impossible for Zelda to retrieve it.
The post office said it sent Sattler a letter on April 12 that it suspended his delivery, but he said he never saw it. A May US Postal Bulletin says that when there is animal interference, the Post Office is supposed to phone the customer. Officials said they didn’t have Sattler’s number — although it’s listed in the online White Pages. And even though his mail is suspended, Sattler told 24 Hour News 8 he was getting some of it meaning someone was still putting it through the slot for Zelda to retrieve for him. He called the Post Office recently when he noticed important mail like bills and checks were not arriving.
The US Postal Service suspended delivery to his house in mid-April after a substitute mail carrier complained. One day after 24 Hour News 8 began asking questions, two USPS workers arrived at Sattler’s house and asked him to sign a letter promising to keep his dog away from the mail slot between 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Sattler refused. Then they asked him to sign a different letter promising to obey postal regulations. Again, he refused. If Settler needs a service dog to help him retrieve his mail there must be some sort of work around the postal service can come up with especially because Zelda cannot stick her mouth through the letter deliver slot and the postal worker does not have to stick their hand in the slot to push the mail through. In fact it might help Zelda to retrieve the mail if it wasn’t pushed all the way through and left dangling for her to pick up with her mouth.
Mail-grabbing dog draws USPS ire: woodtv.com
What about attaching a pouch to catch the mail?
I hope that they can actually work something out because the post office rules go against the american’s with disabilities act. And per the ADA law the way that it is worded if a state, city or county ordinance conflicts with a person being able to follow in do to a disablity they most come up with an accommodation that is satisfactory for both parties Just like in TX your not suppose to walk in the street but because there are no side walks when I use my chair I have no choice but to use the street. The local cops were very rude in the beginning pulling me over and making ill informed comments. Finally I talked to the Captain and informed him that his officers were violating my civil rights and that if they kept harassing me I will have to get a lawyer to sue for pain and suffering caused by this infringement. They never pulled me over again. I knew I was right the officers thought that they knew they were right. What I have learned is that if your disabled and do not want to be trampled on you have to fight.
Actually, the ADA does not apply to the federal government, which includes the post office.
Crazy! People can be so unreasonable. I see no reason why the post office can’t deliver the mail to a service dog. My sister works for the USPS and she would be absolutely delighted to find a dog getting the mail for his owner. Maybe they should fire the person who is making trouble over nothing and hire someone like my sister.
This is the most ridiculous thing that I’ve ever heard. As a medically disabled person, who has a Service Dog, I am doubly outraged by this.
I can’t imagine why a trained service dog could not pick up mail from the floor. My service dog can pick up an envelope, a dollar bill, a coupon, a credit card, a coin, or a paper clip from the floor easily. Seems like that would solve the problem.