Australia Post is urging dog owners to properly secure their dogs amid serious safety concerns for posties, with new data revealing that over the past six months more than 55 Posties a week have fallen victim to dog-related incidents, amounting to an alarming 11 incidents per day.
Despite Australia Post’s pleas for more action from dog owners, over 1420 dog-related incidents have occurred in Australia in the past six months. While no single dog breed is more likely to attack than another, Australia Post is increasingly seeing it’s the smaller dogs that show aggressive behaviour.
In a bid to help identify where oosties are most at risk, Australia Post data has found that half of all incidents are taking place on customer property, with one in three occurring at the customer’s front door.
Shockingly, 34 per cent of cases happened on the street.
Dogs with their owner account for eight per cent of those incidents, and the remaining 26 per cent involved a dog who escaped a property to attack a postie or was roaming the street.
Of particular concern are dog bites during letter deliveries, with 15 per cent of incidents occurring when a postie places mail in letterboxes.
Australia Post data reveals Queensland continues to record the highest number of incidents in each state, followed by NSW and Western Australia.
Australia Post general manager of safety and wellbeing, Rod Maule, emphasised the importance of ensuring posties feel safe doing their job.
“Australia Post is calling on dog owners to take responsibility for their pets,“ he said.
“Customers must understand that for many posties, it can be stressful or triggering knowing that your delivery round may involve a dog that shows aggressive behaviour. Our team members just want to be able to deliver for our customers, without being attacked, harassed, or chased by dogs.
“Regardless of the breed or temperament of your dog, we implore owners to secure their dog safely in a back garden, on a leash, or in another room when expecting parcel deliveries or mail, whether or not you are at home. If you are unable to restrain your dog securely, we suggest using our Parcel Lockers where possible,” he said.
Posties will not make a delivery if it is unsafe for them to do so and will cease deliveries to a customer’s home until the danger is fixed. Australia Post also reports dog-related incidents to relevant local councils to ensure enforcement is actioned.
