Post Office steps up their war against dogs!
We previously mentioned how the Royal Mail was appealing for dog owners to restrain their dogs from attacking postmen when they try to deliver letters, but now the Post Union has upscaled its war on dogs.
They’re looking for the law to be changed in order to lower the number of incidents where postal workers are attacked by dogs. According to their figures, 6,000 staff are attacked each year by dogs, which represents about 10% of their 70,000 workforce.
Apparently postmen aren’t protected by the Dangerous Dogs Act as it doesn’t govern dogs in private land, such as in their own homes. The Dangerous Dogs Act only applies to dogs that are:
Dangerously out of control in a public place.
The problem is worse during the summer as children are home from school, meaning that dogs follow them to the front door to greet the post, and subsequently ‘savage’ the postman, presumably.
Dave Joyce of the Postal Union stated:
The law requires us to deliver to every single address but it doesn’t protect our members from out of control, dangerous and aggressive dogs.
However a spokesman for Defra (The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) stated that they have discussed this with the police already:
As a result of this consultation the government’s view is that the legislation in place is both proportionate and robust enough to deal with dogs that are dangerous or pose a threat. There are no plans to change the law.
Does your dog attack the postal service on site?
