Royal Mail is urging potentially millions of households to take precautions or risk having their post "suspended" after thousands of postal workers were attacked by dogs in the past year.
Appeal to pet owners
The delivery giant has issued a direct appeal to pet owners: "please help us protect your postie", warning that mail deliveries could be temporarily halted if a dog is found roaming loose outside a property. Owners are also advised to keep pets away from the door when answering it and to consider fitting letter cages or external postboxes to prevent bites through the letterbox.
Postwoman's traumatic experience
Kirsteen Hobson, a postwoman of ten years, suffered severe facial injuries following a dog attack. She said: "The gentleman I was delivering to was standing, kind of half hanging, outside his door. I got about two thirds of the way and next thing I know there's a dog on my face and it ripped my lip off."
She continued: "I didn't see the dog come at me, my first view of the dog was when it was attached to my face ... Somehow I managed to get the dog off me, and then it lunged at my face again, biting me under the eye and on my forehead."
Hobson added: "I somehow got the dog off me again and I turned around to get away from it, and it sunk its teeth into my leg, into my thigh." She detailed how the traumatic event continues to affect "every aspect of my life".
Preventive measures
To stop similar incidents, Royal Mail offers a downloadable postcard that can be printed and displayed in a door or window. The company explains: "This lets anyone delivering to your property know that you have a dog and asks them to wait whilst you secure your dog before opening the door."
The postal service also advises: "If we are delivering to your home address and you have a dog, help us deliver safely by keeping it secure and out of the way before your postie arrives."
