Postie savaged by dog

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/ ... ticle.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A postman who was savaged by a dog on his rounds in Cheltenham is calling for pet owners to act more responsibly.

Stephen Gittings needed hospital treatment after being attacked by a deaf mongrel called Banjo as he was delivering mail in Lyndale Terrace, Alstone Lane.

The grandfather has been making drops at the address for 15 years but was attacked as approached the property.

Stephen, who lives Stanwick Drive, Cheltenham, and has been a postman in the town for 21 years, said: "I was going along the road when I saw the dog was tied by the garage at the front of their house – which was the first time I had seen the dog outside.

"I put my bike by the garage and went around the corner and it came straight at me and dug its teeth into my wrist.

"I shouted and a man came out. I said the dog had bitten me and he said the dog was just protecting his property."

Stephen, who is married to Jackie and has two children, Andrew, 22, and Melissa, 19, and a grandson Jon, eight months, was bitten on a path between the garage and the street.

He managed to finish his round with his arm bleeding, then went to Cheltenham General Hospital A&E to have his wound dressed.

The 51-year-old later called the police and said officers told him it wasn't clear whether the dog was on public or private land.

He said:"The bite went through the skin and caught the bone in my arm and I haven't been able to move my wrist properly since.

"It happens quite a lot and work gives us talks about it and what to watch out for.

"They also say that if dogs are loose in the garden we shouldn't go in, we should come back and leave a message to say we left the mail because the dog was there.

"The company looks after us but there is not much they can do in this case."

Gill Evans said her dog Banjo, a terrier cross, is deaf and the postman must have startled him.

She said: "We've never had any problems before. He is good with the kids but he just doesn't like the postman.

"He is just not vicious at all. How could a dog be vicious called Banjo?"

Gill and her partner Martin Brown got the dog from Cheltenham Animal Shelter when he was a puppy. "He is really soft," she added.

A Royal Mail spokesman said that in extreme cases it may stop delivering mail to addresses where there is a particular problem, but this only happens as a last resort.

She said: "Royal Mail takes very seriously the safety of its employees – particularly our frontline postmen and women who deliver the mail.

"Unfortunately, dog attacks are a hazard faced by our employees – we record about 5,000 animal attacks on our postmen and women a year. The vast majority involve dogs.

"Our main aim is to prevent attacks and we have an ongoing campaign to raise awareness of the issue among our customers."

A Gloucestershire police spokesman said the force was called on Saturday after a man was bitten by a dog in Lyndale Terrace.

She said: "Police have spoken to the owner of the animal and have reported him to the Crown Prosecution Service. They will decide if any further action will be taken."

[TrueBlueTerrier]

"He is just not vicious at all. How could a dog be vicious called Banjo?"

So its the posties fault because he is called Stephen

[shadow]

The dog must be a softie cause he's called banjo.Just like the throat ripping rotweiler called fluffy.

[DGP1]

There's a Jasper Carrot joke about having a cat called Lollipop

[DGP1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI95r6nzVZ0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; there it is

[brothermagrew]

The owners of said mutt are the ones who need banjoed!

[shadow]

Not what I was expecting. Expected it to be crude.

[Magnus]

You folks should carry those high frequency sound buzzers, with you.

They deter these crazy mutts.

Wouldn't suprise me if they are illegal though.

Take care, folks.

[johnsouthwales]

don't walk near a dog

[Pinky 1]

"He is just not vicious at all. How could a dog be vicious called Banjo?"

So its the posties fault because he is called Stephen

What does it matter what you call him ........you say he's f*cking deaf !

[shadow]

I know a man that lost his dog. They call him dugless.

[Barry Trotter]

You folks should carry those high frequency sound buzzers, with you.

They deter these crazy mutts.

Wouldn't suprise me if they are illegal though.

Take care, folks.

I had one of those years ago as two dogs in one garden kept trying to bite me. The dom said just point it,press it and the dogs will get sore ears and run away. So i pointed it,pressed it,one dog ran off and the other dog went feckin nuts,started foaming at the mouth and chewing the wood on the gate off. I thought,to hell with this,I'll not bother going in today and endorsed the mail accordingly. The next morning I pulled up the dim and told him what happened,He said, I should have told you,sometimes it has the opposite effect on some dogs and makes them go wild. guid yin.

[NWpostie]

You folks should carry those high frequency sound buzzers, with you.

They deter these crazy mutts.

Wouldn't suprise me if they are illegal though.

Take care, folks.

I had one of those years ago as two dogs in one garden kept trying to bite me. The dom said just point it,press it and the dogs will get sore ears and run away. So i pointed it,pressed it,one dog ran off and the other dog went feckin nuts,started foaming at the mouth and chewing the wood on the gate off. I thought,to hell with this,I'll not bother going in today and endorsed the mail accordingly. The next morning I pulled up the dim and told him what happened,He said, I should have told you,sometimes it has the opposite effect on some dogs and makes them go wild. guid yin.

should have carried on doing it for entertainment value from the safety of the street while still endorsing letters

[DGP1]

I know a man that lost his dog. They call him dugless.

I thought that was a man without a spade on his head

[k979aaa]

I know a dog called LUCKY but the postman was not when it ate his ball's!. So beware you only get two so why give a dog a chew!. But one thing i do is never go in a garden if i know a dog can be in it!. But sometimes this can not always be the case with royalmails policy of moving workers from pillar to some unknown post!.