MELROSE, Fla. – A United States Postal Service office in Melrose was renamed Monday in honor of a mail carrier who was fatally mauled by a pack of dogs in Putnam County in 2022.
When Pam Rock’s postal car broke down on Aug. 21, 2022, while she was delivering mail on a dirt road, five dogs escaped their fenced-in yard and attacked her. The dogs’ owner had previously tried unsuccessfully to surrender them to animal control.
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According to the U.S. Postal Service, 2023 had 193 dog attacks on USPS employees in Florida. That number put Florida at No. 7 in the country for dog bites.
“I don’t know of a postal employee that I have in any of my facilities that has not at one point or another dealt with a vicious dog or a dog protecting its property,” Twyla Green, who is the Postmaster in Melrose, said.
H.R. 3947, which was signed into legislation earlier this year, changed the name of the United States Postal Facility on 859 North State Road 21 to the Pamela Jane Rock Post Office Building.
Congressman Aaron Bean presented the family with a copy of the bill signed by President Joe Biden at the ceremony on Monday.
“We would like to thank Congressman Bean and Congresswoman Cammack for their tireless efforts in securing the name of this USPS facility for our beloved sister Pam,” the Rock Family said in a news release. “Pam was a devoted USPS employee who was sadly taken away from us while working in the line of duty. The naming of this facility honors Pam and her life of service, and is a comfort to all of us.”
Rock was the youngest sister of 14 siblings, including Tom Rock, Maria Rock-Risse and Richard Rock. She was also an aunt of 19 nieces and nephews.
“Well, Pam being the youngest one and having 13 siblings ahead of her, she had the benefit of everything good and bad from her 13 older ones,” Fred Rock said. “And I think our No. 14 sibling is the best of us all.”
Pamela Rock’s career as a mail carrier was a continuation of a life devoted to service, including volunteering with the Peace Corps in Guatemala, educating Indigenous women and children on nutrition on a reservation, and working for years with the federal Women, Infants and Children nutrition program — even testifying on Capitol Hill.
“Pamela was a beautiful person in every way,” Richard Rock said.
Pamela Rock died the day after the dog attack. She was airlifted to a trauma center, where her brother Tom Rock rushed to her side.
“She had lost one arm and part of another leg,” he said. “Her face was mauled, ear was torn up, all of the horrible things that would happen if you were attacked by wild animals.”
The State Attorney’s Office declined to charge the dogs’ owner with recklessness. Its investigation revealed the owner had tried to patch his fence and had tried to surrender the dogs to Animal Control — twice. A United States Postal Service office in Melrose was renamed Monday in honor of a mail carrier who was fatally mauled by a pack of dogs in Putnam County in 2022.