Fort Worth was the 15th worst city in the country for dog attacks last year, according to a survey by the U.S. Postal Service.
The list ranked cities by the number of letter carriers who were bitten by dogs.
Houston topped the list with 62 attacks, and Fort Worth came in at No. 15 with 23.
Dr. David Smith, a trauma surgeon at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital, said his emergency room sees between six and 10 patients per week who are attacked by dogs.
"You'll typically get a laceration, a cut, a tear in your skin, when a dog bites you,” he said. “In adults, we see most of these on the legs. In children, most of them are on the face."
Smith said most are minor injuries and easily treated in the emergency room.
Fort Worth’s director of code compliance, Brandon Bennett, said the city has targeted certain problem neighborhoods to round up stray dogs.
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He also said the city’s 13 animal control officers are sometimes overwhelmed.
One day last week, he said, the city had more than 700 backlogged calls.
Reports of vicious dogs get top-priority, but other calls about strays often go to the bottom of the list, he said.
Fort Worth’s ratio of animal control officers to residents is better than many cities, he said, but added more are needed.
"We've also grown as a city,” Bennett said. “The last time we added animal care and control officers was in 2006, and the city has grown by 100,000 people since then. So there's a lot more pets in the city."
Here is a list of the top cities for dog attacks as ranked by the U.S. Postal Service. Many cities tied for the same number:
1. Houston
2. San Diego, Calif.
2. Columbus, Ohio
3. Los Angeles
4. Louisville, Ky.
5. San Antonio
5. St. Louis
6. Cleveland
6. Phoenix
7. Portland, Ore.
8. Denver
8. Philadelphia
9. Sacramento, Calif.
10. Seattle
11. Baltimore
12. Milwaukee
13. Chicago
14. Cincinnati
15. San Jose, Calif.
15. Fort Worth
16. Memphis, Tenn.
16. Jacksonville, Fla.
17. Miami
17. Detroit
18. Toledo, Ohio
19. Oakland, Calif.
19. Pittsburgh
20. Long Beach, Calif.
20. Charlotte, N.C.
20. Jamaica, N.Y.
