The postmaster of the Camp Hill, Cumberland County, post office is tired of his letter carriers feeling the bite of dogs' teeth and he has sent letters to 14,000 households containing a warning.

That warning is that residents of the post office's service area could be held liable for medical and other costs of a dog attack and that their mail delivery could be halted. It also reminds them that state laws permit prosecution of owners of vicious dogs.

John Schlotter, the Camp Hill postmaster, said three of his letter carriers have been bitten this year, including one whose wound required 24 stitches to close. Last year, more than 3,000 letter carriers nationwide were bitten, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

How do the Butler Post Office's letter carriers stack up against Camp Hill's in terms of dog bites? Fortunately, as of Tuesday morning, no letter carrier had been bitten this year.

Last year, only one letter carrier was bitten, according to Joseph Scherder, Butler postmaster.

Still, that's one too many.

Scherder said the prospect of dog bites is higher in August because of the higher outdoor temperatures. At many homes, the only thing between a letter carrier and a dog - or dogs - is a screen door, and some dogs have a penchant for charging at the door and sometimes ending up outside.

It's in their nature for dogs to be protective of their home turf, so it is the responsibility of dog owners to ensure that their letter carrier is not in danger of being bitten when mail is delivered. Scherder's advice to Butler households is not to open the door to get the mail directly from the letter carrier when a dog is in the house. Doing that runs the risk of the dog slipping through the partially open door and getting at the carrier.

That isn't meant to imply that all dogs are ferocious. Some dog owners say the biggest danger that their dog poses is that it will lick the visitor to death.

However, the friendliness of some dogs has been known to change drastically with the arrival of a new baby in the home; the dog becomes wary of any stranger who approaches the home because of its instinct of wanting to protect the infant.

And, letter carriers, no matter how often they have delivered mail to a residence, still are not a permanent part of the family unit and, thus, continue to be regarded as strangers by many families' dogs.

Scherder has praise for area law enforcement agencies' efforts in regard to ensuring that dogs are not routinely running loose in the community. As the local figures confirm, Scherder said Butler letter carriers don't have a big dog-bite problem, and it is to be hoped that excellent record continues.

But people here should keep the issue in mind nevertheless. It is an issue to be regarded seriously - even in regard to other deliveries. The same potential legal fallout exists outside the realm of mail delivery.

Many readers of the comic strip "Blondie" chuckle when Dagwood collides with the mail carrier while rushing out his front door. But it's not funny in real life when a mail carrier is attacked by a dog, especially when medical treatment must follow.

It's in residents' self-interest for mail delivery to occur without incident, by canine or otherwise. Really, it's simply a matter of exercising common sense.

- J.R.K.