While in the UK, Royal Mail saw a total of 2,484 postal workers attacked by dogs in the last year, which is an increase of 9% on the previous year, Guernsey is bucking the trend with a reduction in attacks down from 20 in 2016 to just 3 in 2019 so far.

Paul Etasse, Health and Safety Manager at Guernsey Post said; “We have seen a significant drop in dog attacks in Guernsey as a result of proactive steps that we have put in place. We have worked closely with postal workers to identify properties where dogs of concern are, and have liaised with customers to relocate their delivery point if necessary so posties don’t have to come into contact with a dog of concern.”

He added; “The majority of bites now occur when someone opens the door to receive a parcel or sign for an item, rather than when a postie enters a garden. This is particularly a concern during school holidays when many children are home and they open the door to the postie and the dog pushes past the child at the door. As dogs are territorial and can be unpredictable we’d recommend dog owners keeping their dogs in another room before answering the door.”

Guernsey’s CWU Chairman Paul Bullock said; “we are keen to stress we are pro-dog but we do take the health and safety of our postal workers seriously and anything we can do to make the public more aware of the risk, the safer it will be for everyone, not just for posties but for all delivery and tradespeople who have to all at properties around the island.”

This is the seventh annual Dog Awareness Week and is being supported by a wide range of organisations and animal charities including the PDSA, the National Police Chief’s Council, and the National Dog Wardens Association. A special Dog Awareness Week postmark is being put al all stamped items until Friday 12 July, both in the UK and in Guernsey.