Mail-grabbing dog draws USPS ire

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - 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.

"The dog's doing what it's trained to do and has to be trained to do," he told 24 Hour News 8. Sattler, in his 30s, is confined to a bed and a motorized chair in his home.

But the US Postal Service suspended delivery to his house in mid-April after a substitute mail carrier complained.

"There was a dog on the other side of the mail slot when this carrier was delivering the mail," said Sabrina Todd of USPS. "The carrier felt threatened at that particular time when the dog reached for the mail."

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. He called the Post Office recently when he noticed important mail was not arriving.

"I've lost my insurance, I'm missing my state aid, my bills are falling farther and farther behind," he said.

When 24 Hour News 8 went to his house to check, it seems hard to accidentally stick your hand through the mail-door slot while just pushing something inside.

Todd from the USPS said some might see this as an overreaction, but "this is a very, very serious concern for the Postal Service. Letter carriers are the third group of people - behind women and children and the elderly - who are getting bitten."

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.

"I have been following postal regulations," he said.

Mail delivery would resume, he said he was told, only if he signed the letter.

But the last exchange 24 Hour News 8 had with the USPS just adds confusion. The local manager concluded it is safe to deliver mail again because Sattler modified his mail box.

He said he hasn't modified anything -- though 24 Hour News 8 was not able to clarify that at this writing.