Attacks on postal workers by dogs up 88% in Bradford

Dog attacks on postal workers have soared in Bradford increasing by 88% in the last five years with The Royal Mail looking to reduce this to ensure the safety of their workers.

Royal Mail released figures this week in conjunction with their fifth annual dog awareness week. These figures show that 32 postal workers were attacked in Bradford last year this has since increased to 115.

This 88% rise in attacks in Bradford is a worrying trend with an increase in attacks also in Wakefield as they have increased 38% to 156. While rather more encouragingly numbers are decreasing in Leeds which was down 10% to 253 and a 19% decrease in Huddersfield to 78 over the same time frame.

In the UK, there was a total of over 14,500 attacks over a five-year period with over 2470 in the last year alone.

This has led to The Royal Mail creating the Annual dog awareness week which is designed to raise awareness of the issues regarding dog attacks and encourage responsible ownership, in the hope that this results in a reduced amount of attacks.

Dog attacks have actually fallen by 7% in the last year to just over 2470 but this is still too many as one dog attack is too many. This equates to around 7 dog attacks a day in the UK which can lead to permanent and disabling injury.

DR Shaun Davis, Royal Mail Group Global Director of Safety, Health and Wellbeing and sustainability had his say on the issue he said: “There have been around 14,500 attacks on our workers over the last five years with over 2,400 this year alone.

“Some of these attacks have led to life changing injuries and this is unacceptable.

“While the number of dog attacks has fallen in the last year, the numbers are far too high, our postmen and women need to be able to deliver the service they provide the UK without the risk of injury.

“This is why the campaign is important as we need to keep raising awareness of this serious issue and ask all dog owners to keep their dogs under control and be a responsible dog owner.”

Communications Workers Union National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce commented on this growing issue, he said: “Seven postal workers attacked a day by a dog is simply unacceptable.

“The whole idea of Dog Awareness Week is to highlight the problems and repercussions for dog owners and victims, many of whom are seriously injured.

“Over 70% of dog attacks on postmen and women occur on the garden path or at the doorstep of the dog’s owners home.

“It just needs owners to restrict their animals access to the front garden or put their dog in another room when collecting or signing for an item.”