Dog owners in South Australia are urged to keep their pets safe when the mail carriers are around because they suffer from severe bites.
Australia Post has launched a new campaign to get the message across in a spate of attacks that are more likely to involve biting workers.
Australia Post’s Executive General Manager of Network Operations, Rod Barnes, said the Even Good Dogs Have Bad Days campaign called on dog owners to keep the stamps safe.
Mr. Barnes said, on average, five Australia Post team members are involved in dog incidents every working day, with more than 1,173 incidents this financial year.
“That’s almost 400 more than the same time last year and represents a sharp increase from the 957 incidents recorded last year,” said Mr. Barnes.
“Queensland, NSW and Western Australia have seen the most dog incidents throughout the year, and while attacks occur at front doors, letter boxes and in front yards, about half also occur on footpaths or the road.”
He said the new campaign includes a video compilation of “shocking images” of injuries and aggressive footage of incidents captured nationwide as postal workers made their daily deliveries.
Mr. Barnes said the images and graphics served as a graphic reminder to people of the dangers of leaving their dogs unsecured.
“It can sometimes be difficult to imagine that an otherwise friendly family pet could pose a risk to others, but the reality is that our people are hurt or endangered daily,” he said.
“These incidents can be traumatic for our team members and have lasting consequences not only in physical injuries but also their mental health, and they may no longer feel safe to deliver to locations where incidents have occurred,” he said.
“Even if a dog doesn’t bite, it could cause a serious accident by running in front of a postman or driver in an electric van, which could also lead to injury to your pet, so we ask that people remember to open their gates. To keep their pets safe and ensure our people can safely deliver their parcels and mail to them.”
Dog expert veterinarian Katrina Warren said dogs might fear unfamiliar visitors or perceive posts as intruding on their territory Because the mail carrier always leaves quickly after they’ve been delivered. The dog may feel like barking or even hunting has worked”.
“The problem is, the mailman always comes back, so your dog will bark at them again to make them go away, but after a while, your dog may raise the bar and bark more, growl, lunge or even bite just to make sure your postman gets the hang of it. Image,” said Dr. Warren.
“If a dog is given a chance to continue practicing this behavior, it will become a habit that can be difficult to break and dangerous for visitors, including postal workers,” she said.
Mr. Barnes said customers who couldn’t secure their dogs could nominate to leave items in a place safe for both the parcel and mail carriers or choose a free 24/7 parcel locker to collect boxes outside the home.
Australia Post’s two-minute video compilation as part of the campaign can be accessed via this PS News link.