A Fort Worth family is devastated after the family dog died after it was hit with a rock by their post man.
Lawrence and Taiesha Brown said that their 10-pound Yorkie, Maxwell, got out of the backyard and was then hit by a rock by their letter carrier.
The incident happened Saturday morning along the 3600 block of Hazeline Road.
Lawrence Brown said he was working in his garage when he heard a commotion outside and a dog whimper.
Brown said when he confronted the man, he admitted to the act.
"At the time, I didn't know it was my wife's dog. I just heard a loud yell," Brown said. "So when I looked at the postman as he was walking up the street, I asked him, 'What did you do to that dog?' He said, 'I got me one.'"
"I said, 'You got you one? Did you mace him?' He said, 'No, I hit him with a rock,'" Brown said.
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It was then that Brown went across the street and learned from his neighbor that it was his family's dog the mail man had been talking about.
The Browns don’t believe their dog would attack anyone.
“It is very heartbreaking for me, you just deal with it one day at a time,” said Taiesha Brown.
NBC 5 contacted the United States Postal Service, and they sent us this statement.
"The Postal Service takes the issue of dog bite prevention very seriously. We are saddened at the loss of the customer’s pet. Local postal officials are conducting a thorough investigation and will take appropriate action, as needed, pending the results. We understand that in this instance, the letter carrier was defending himself from a dog attack. Letter carriers receive information on how to remain safe while delivering mail in order to avoid dog bites and attacks; including backing away from a dog, not making direct eye contact with the dog, and not handing mail over to a customer--especially a child. Postal officials will address this situation to ensure that letter carriers follow recommended actions to avoid dog attacks/bites in the future. "
Just last week, as part of an awareness campaign for National Dog Bite Prevention Week (May 18-24), the U.S. Postal Service released a list of the Top 30 cities for dog bites on postal workers; Fort Worth was 16th on the list with 26 attacks.
Fort Worth police officers did come out to investigate the incident, which was reported as animal cruelty according to the police dispatch list.
So far, no charges have been filed.
NBC 5's Ben Russell contributed to this report.
