UK dog owners are being urged to take certain actions, or risk their post being "suspended" if their dogs are left to run loose. The messaging comes after thousands of Royal Mail posties were injured by dogs in the past year alone, or some 42 attacks per week.
Some postal workers have suffered life-changing injuries. The Royal Mail is pleading with pet owners to "please help us protect your postie" and is asking them to ensure their dogs are secured away before opening the door to its staff, and its also advised that owners consider putting up a sign in their doors or windows.
To prevent bites through the letterbox, residents are encouraged to use letter cages or set up external delivery points. Further Royal Mail guidance warns: "If your dog is running loose outdoors on your premises your mail can be suspended".
Kirsteen Hobson, a postwoman for a decade, suffered severe facial injuries from a dog attack. Recounting her harrowing ordeal, Kirsteen shared: "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. 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.
"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". The traumatic event, she said, has impacted "every aspect of my life".
She continued: "It's not something that I'd like anyone else to experience, which is why I wanted to share this so it hopefully doesn't happen [again], it can be prevented."
The Royal Mail website features a downloadable postcard that householders can print out and display in their door or window. Royal Mail 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."