A weeklong observance with some teeth in it

Unless you're a U.S. Postal Service carrier or a meter reader, you probably don't know about next week's observance.

Yes, May 17-23 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week, promoted by the American Veterinary Medical Assn. and the U.S. Postal Service. A bill was introduced in Congress last month to make it an official holiday — perhaps on a slow day — but it never came up for a vote.

On the more serious side of the observance, every year about 4.5 million people in the U.S. are bitten by dogs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and about a fifth of those bites are serious enough to require medical attention. Those most at risk of getting bitten,  the Postal Service says, are children, the elderly and postal workers, in that order.

The Postal Service has launched a campaign, "Don't Be Fooled by 'My Dog Won't Bite!' " And, locally, Southern California Gas Co. is using the weeklong observance to remind customers to keep dogs securely away from meter readers on the days that meters are read (the dates are noted on monthly bills).

Also locally, National Dog Bite Prevention Week was promoted Thursday with an appearance at the Whittier Post Office by Laddie, a direct descendant of the collie that starred in the 1943 movie "Lassie Comes Home."

Laddie appeared in Sacramento in 2007 during the debate over a spay/neuter law, but didn't take the opportunity to bite any politicians.

—David Colker

Photo: Laddie in 2007, bored with lobbying in Sacramento.

Credit: Hector Amezcua / Sacramento Bee