Good grief.

The rivalry between mail carriers and dogs has long been a running joke in America. But in a Detroit neighborhood Friday, the joke stopped being funny.

While a 52-year-old letter carrier was on his route, a dog attacked his foot and ankle and wouldn’t let go.

Good Samaritans came to his rescue.

One woman struck the dog repeatedly with a broomstick. A man in his car stopped to help, leaving on his phone to record the melee.

Those who came to the mailman’s aid are brave. Even a small dog, if vicious, can be very dangerous. And the dog in Detroit wasn’t nearly small. The Daily Mail reported that the mauler was a pit bull.

At one point, the mangy mutt grabbed onto the postal employee’s hand.

OUCH.

The man who left his car pounded the dog with a trash can, a spatula, and a steering wheel lock.

But not even The Club could get the dog to release.

DANG IT!

Finally, the dog let go, eventually charging one of the neighborhood residents.

The United States Postal Service told Fox 2 it was investigating the “tragic incident.”

In a statement, the postal service thanked the do-gooders:

“We are deeply grateful to the concerned citizens who came the aid of our letter carrier. Unfortunately, attacks such as this provide the postal service an opportunity to remind dog owners that it is their responsibility to restrain their pet in order to avoid attacks against our employees while they are in performance of their duties.”

The dog was captured by animal control, and its owner was ticketed.

An anonymous source said the dog belonged to his aunt’s boyfriend.

“From what I know, basically, is my cousin was leaving for work and he slipped past him and ran outside.”

Detroit Dog Rescue worker Kristen Rinaldi explained that you should never fight back during a dog attack:

“You never want to scream, you never want to run or provoke that dog. If that dog wants to chase something, it is going to run after you. You are going to want to cover your ears and your head as much as you can. You will not want to flail around; you are not going to want to scream. I know it is going to be scary and it is going to be really hard. You want to stay as still and quiet as you can to make that dog redirect and not pay attention to you.”

The dog’s owner eventually spoke to Detroit’s ABC 7:

“I used to tease and say, ‘Oh, you know, he’s a little pushover. He wouldn’t bite anybody.”

The pushover’s name? Boss Hog.

-Alex

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