Stoppage of mail service due to dog causes growls

Five houses in a Midvale cul-de-sac are no longer receiving their mail — all because of a golden retriever named Nugget.

The United States Postal Service cut off mail delivery to the neighborhood almost two weeks ago after the dog chased the mailman in December and escaped from its home twice this month. They are telling the dog owner to get rid of his dog, fence the yard or force all the residents to pay $1,000 for a set of locked mailboxes at the end of the circle.

For now, the five families must drive to the local post office and pick up their mail. If the Postal Service's conditions are not met within about 15 more days, all of the residents' mail will be returned to the sender.

"It has turned into such an ugly situation," said resident Candace Tarkeshian, a stay-at-home mom with two kids. "We've just all put down our feet and said we're not paying for it (the locked mailboxes). It's not our fault."

Dog owner John McGuire does not want to give up his dog or fence his entire yard. He said that Nugget already has a fenced back yard.

Postmaster Gene Brackus says he understands it's inconvenient for neighbors, but a permanent solution needs to happen before delivery resumes.

"We want to deliver the mail, but we want to do it in a manner where we're not going to sustain another attack, a bite or injury of whatever degree," he said.

Brackus said that on Dec. 30, Nugget raced across the street toward a mail carrier, who slipped on the ice, cracked his elbow and hurt his hip. The carrier used a package to try and defend himself and ended up taking three days off work to nurse his injuries.

The Postal Service and McGuire reached a written agreement, which said the dog would stay at home or in a back yard to "keep it from roaming at large." Brackus said the agreement outlined that if the dog was out again, mail receptacles would have to be provided, or McGuire would have to fence his yard.

Nugget was out two times earlier this month, which violated the agreement.

The dog was out, McGuire said, because he was playing fetch in the front yard with McGuire's sister.

"To do all this because (the mailman) fell is pretty outrageous," said McGuire. Nugget is not aggressive, he added.

"I guess the mailman is afraid of dogs," he said. "If he's really scared of dogs, he probably shouldn't be a mailman. That's part of being a mailman."

Tarkeshian said the neighbors received less than a 24-hour notice that mail service was stopping. While the dog can be a menace, she said, he has never attacked anyone in the neighborhood. No one witnessed the December incident.

"It's just a lot of trouble to be going through," she said.

Brackus says for now, he will put up temporary mailboxes at the front of the cul-de-sac, so a mail carrier doesn't have to enter.

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E-mail: astowell@desnews.com