Dog hit and killed by postal worker in family's driveway in Hudson, Wis.
A beloved dog was run over by a postman in a family's driveway in Hudson, Wis. They want to see some repercussions as they think the postal worker never had business being in the driveway, let alone driving fast enough to hit and kill their beagle Jack.
“I uncovered him and held him in my arms in the driveway probably for a half hour," owner Greg Sipes said. "I never cried when my mother died, but I cried when Jack died.”
Yet painful to recount, Sipes and Lori Cherry laid out the events that led to the death of their dog.
"He stopped, got out of his vehicle, walked back, glanced at Jack, didn't render aid. Didn't even lean down to see if he was alright,” Sipes said.
Sipes said they weren't home at the time, but neighbors watched in horror as they claim the postal carrier ran over and killed the 12-year-old beagle, then left him there.
"Without our neighbor seeing everything, we would have just gotten home and found our dog dead in the driveway,” Cherry said.
The U.S. Postal Service said the postal worker immediately went to the front door -- and when no one answered, they called authorities. Yet the St. Croix Sheriff's Office said no incident report was filed, partly because it happened on private property.
The family has since met with the postal service and asked that the employee be taken off their route.
"It's a slap in the face to have him come and deliver our mail,” Sipes said.
But so far, they say nothing has been done.
“He handed us a form telling us that we need to fill out a tort form and treated it like your mailbox was knocked over not like your dog was just killed that was like your kid,” Cherry said.
In a statement, USPS tells Fox 9 they are investigating and trying to address the family's demands, including a personal apology from the postal worker.
“If we wouldn’t have initiated contact, they wouldn’t have called and apologized,” Cherry said.
USPS full statement
"Our safety manuals emphasize avoiding situations such as driveways that require the driver to back out into the street whenever possible. In this situation the driveway allowed room for the driver to make a y-turn and go forward back into the street. He was moving forward when the accident occurred.
The Postal Service is sorry for the loss suffered by the Sipes family earlier this month. We are investigating the accident and will be reaching out to the family to address their claims and respond to their demands"