Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser | News | Dog attacks on postmen rise by 82 per cent

Friday, 29th August, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 16th July, 2008 12:00

Dog attacks on postmen rise by 82 per cent

By Jamie MacDonald

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ROYAL Mail is appealing to dog owners in the Wee County to keep their pets under control after recent attacks on local posties.

The caricature of an angry dog chasing the terrified postman down the street is increasingly becoming a reality in Clackmannanshire and the Royal Mail is keen to highlight the problem and protect its workers.

In recent months there have been two attacks on postmen in Alloa.

One postman was bitten on the leg and required a tetanus shot and antibiotics.

In the second attack, another postman escaped from a rottweiler by using his bag to protect himself – the rottweiler has attempted to bite Royal Mail staff before.

In the case of the rottweiler owners, as it is the second attack, Royal Mail may stop delivering to their door.

Morag Turnbull, external relations manager for Royal Mail, told the Advertiser, “Round about the holidays people tend to let their dogs out in the garden more often without restraints.

“Dogs are territorial after all and it is an issue we would like to highlight and ask people to pay heed to.”

Ms Turnbull added, “I’m sure it’s not just postmen but paperboys and other delivery staff too that have trouble.”

After an attack, or near miss, householders receive a letter from Royal Mail asking them to keep their pets under control or risk losing their delivery.

In many cases the local dog warden is informed and Royal Mail will pursue legal action which can result in the dog being put down and the owner fined.

Ricky McAulay, Royal Mail’s area general manager for the East of Scotland, said that in April and May of this year there had been a rise of 82 per cent in the number of dogs attacking staff members in the area compared with the same period last year.

Mr McAulay added, “We are not claiming that all dogs in our area are dangerous, but even the most placid animal can be prone to attack if it feels its territory is being threatened.

“Even just being threatened by an unrestrained pet is a frightening situation for our delivery staff and we would appeal to owners to keep their pets under control, especially if they know their pets have a territorial nature.”

Royal Mail asks dog owners to consider keeping their pets indoors at the time the postman usually calls and, if opening the door to sign for an item, to keep the dog in a separate room.

Householders are also asked to think about fitting a letter cage behind the front door to protect a postman’s fingers from being bitten.

If it is not practical to keep your dog away from a postman delivering mail a secure mailbox on the edge of your property would allow post to be delivered safely.

Comments

dsmith

Jul 16 08 21:41

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Could we have a comment from either Morag Turnbull or Ricky McAulay as to the reasons in the rise of attacks now that we live in a society where it has become almost acceptable to make a compensation claim for the slightest incident.In fact the Royal Mail encourage this.

Having had to pay in excess of £1600 for a minor scratch inflicted on a postman who had his hands through my letterbox where my 15 year old dog was i can assure you that these incidents are not all vicious attacks but over inflated claims on behalf of certain unscrupulous employees.

Even not being liable in the eyes of the law ( we were not liable due to the dog being controlled and restrained inside the house)is no deterrent to the Royal Mails union who use bullying tactic's to extract money from hard working families for what amounts to no more than a scratch.Do people not realize that we all pay in the end through increased insurance costs etc.

As for the Royal Mail asking pet owners to keep their dogs indoors i can assure you that this makes no difference to them ,when their staff can flaunt their own guidelines with regard to delivering mail where they believe a dog may be a danger.

I would intimate to the Royal Mail that there is not an 82 % rise in attacks merely an 82% rise in compensation claims.Which the Royal Mail and their Union are actively encouraging.

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