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| By Paula Canning Staff Writer CHICOPEE When the Post Office discontinued its delivery service to the block of homes adjacent to Haven Avenue and Nora Street, Chester Gazda, a resident of Haven Street, wanted answers. According to Gazda, he subsequently learned that mail delivery to his street had stopped because a dog belonging to another Haven Avenue resident had jumped the four-foot fence surrounding the backyard and chased the mail carrier up and down the street. Following a three-week period in which residents were required to pick up their mail at the post office, Gazda said mail delivery resumed when the owner of the dog secured the dog in a six foot high pen. While Gazda said that the Post Office's decision to discontinue mail delivery proved to be an "absolute disaster," for him and the other 14 homes involved, Chicopee Postmaster Stanley Haley said the action reflects the Post Office's "no tolerance policy" that is necessary to protect its employees a policy that he said will continue to be strictly enforced when residents do not properly secure their dogs. "I can't subject my carriers to being in danger with a dog loose on the street," Haley said. He said that in the incident with the dog on Haven Avenue, the mail carrier followed the Post Office's procedure for when such a situation arises. "If dogs are loose, my carrier is instructed to evaluate their own safety, and if it doesn't appear to be a safe situation, then the carrier is told to bring back the mail and notify his supervisor," Haley said. While Gazda contends that mail was not promptly delivered after the Haven Avenue resident secured the dog as asked, Haley said the delivery was initially delayed because there were boxes in the pen that he felt could assist the dog in clearing the six foot fence. Once the boxes were removed, Haley said that mail delivery to both streets "promptly resumed". "The bottom line is that if a carrier can't deliver the mail safely, then he will return it," he said, adding that the same regulations apply to other threatening situations, such as icy conditions on a homeowners sidewalk or driveway. Haley said that there have been numerous instances in which carriers have been injured in the city by unsecured dogs, and that dog bite incidents tend to occur between three and eight times a year. Since January of this year, there have been two separate instances in which mail carriers have been bitten by dogs while delivering mail. He explained that mail carriers frequently find themselves in dangerous situations because a dog perceives the interaction as a threat when a carrier hands someone their mail. According to Gazda, this is exactly what happened in one of the incidents that occurred in January. He said that when a mail carrier went to deliver a woman her mail, her dog, which was on a leash beside her, leaped up and bit the mail carrier in the leg. Haley explained that this is not a problem isolated to Chicopee, but occurs "all throughout the country." "This is a problem you see everywhere," Haley said. "If people don't restrain their dogs, then they're not going to get their mail. The only thing we ask is for the dog to be secure nothing more, nothing less." Haley said he urges the public to give the matter serious consideration. "People think it's funny," Haley said. "But it's a very serious issue. If your dog bites a carrier, you will get sued." While he understands the importance of protecting the mail carriers, Gazda said that having his mail delivery shut down had serious repercussions for him and other residents involved especially because the neighborhood has a high elderly population. "We have neighbors that can't get to the Post Office themselves to pick up their mail," Gazda said. "We have three elderly couples that don't leave their homes." Gazda said the Post Office did not provide any notification to the residents who would not be receiving their mail, nor were they very forthcoming with information about when mail delivery service would return. Gazda said that when he approached the Post Office with his concerns, "They were not helpful at all." With the exception of one supervisor, he said that the Post Office employees were "not very friendly" and didn't offer any type of resolution." He said that when he went to the Chicopee Police Department about the issue, he was informed that a police report had not been filed regarding the incident. He added that although he believes the dog "is a danger," he has only seen the dog loose once since the owner moved to the area last year. |