Post office cites safety concerns for mail carriers, stops delivery service to neighborhood

PHOENIX - Dozens of Valley residents were shocked to learn they will no longer have mail delivered to their homes.

"[It] makes me feel bad, makes me feel liken an alien, [like] I don't belong here," said Dale Johnson, who stopped receiving his mail.

The postal service is concerned about dogs biting their carriers in the area of 28th Street and McDowell Road in Phoenix.

"The theory is that people no longer want their animals and they're going to this canal and just dumping their dogs in that canal area," said Julie Utley with the U.S. Postal Service here in Phoenix. A canal runs near the neighborhood where they suspended service.

Utley said three mail carriers have been bitten in that neighborhood just this year. She said residents can collect their mail at the post office.

She also noted officials are discussing putting in a central mail spot in the area to help residents collect their mail easier and ensure carriers don't have to walk through the neighborhood and be potentially be subjected to stray stray dogs.

Utley said the postal service doesn't want to inconvenience any residents.

"We have to also keep in mind that we need to protect our carriers and prevent them from dog bites," she said.

Those living in the area told ABC15 there are not a lot of stray dogs. Many have lived their for decades and fear they now will have to pay for a P.O. box.

"As a taxpayer and a property owner, I ought to have a post office service," Johnson said.

Like many, he doesn't want to leave the neighborhood in order to fetch his mail.