Dog Attacks & Incidents of Dog Menace

[brothermagrew]

Feck me

1150 am and nearing the end of my delivery round after a hard days graft what do I get, two border collie type dogs running full pelt to attack me whilst I am half way up a garden path heading for the occupants letterbox. Only time to half protect myself with my nearly empty bag before the onslaught. Fended one of them of with the postbag whilst the other twat snaps at the bundle of mail in my hand pulls it free catching my right middle finger in the process with its nashers and mail goes scattering all over the place. As this same pair of twatting dogs had attacked me previously on 23 Aug 2003 and they had also attacked another cwu colleague on 13 Jan 2006 I was adamant that at least one of them was going to feel some pain. Suffice to say the one that snatched at the mail and caught my finger received a size 7 Royal Mail issue shoe to it's effing jaw.

As for the owners or persons in charge of these dogs they upon hearing the commotion just called them in. Not so much as an apology or feck all. Last time I received a rather sour bite to my left leg just above my knee cap. My other colleague was bitten on the back of his calf muscle.

Enoughs, enough. Reporting it to the local Police so they can add it on to their IMAGE computer for their reference. Gonna ask them to charge them as these dogs are a danger to any legitimate callers (which posties are on account of our delivery rounds) - FACT IS they have attacked posties 3 times now and have so far got off excuse the pun SCOT FREE.

Being the CWU Unit / Workplace Safety Rep him indoors is gonna receive one nice health and safety letter on his desk on Monday morning. I'll be demanding suspension of mail delivery to this address. He don't play ball then I'll simply refuse to deliver.

[The Postal Avenger]

Quite right mate, it shouldn't be up to you to report it to the police though, RM should take responsibility. Fat chance of that happening though.

[IWW Fellow Worker]

Back in 1998, I was bitten by a Cairns Terrier which was tied up on an extending lead outside the paper shop on my delivery. Two years earlier the same dog bit me on the leg as I was returning from my delivery and the soft cow of an owner had the lead to it's full extent. After the first bite, which she denied, I reported it to the police and showed them the bite mark. The second time, it bit me on the hand, so I walked into the shop with blood all over my trousers and shoes and told her it had bitten me again. She denied it, but there were several witnesses. It took about 18 months, but Simpson and Miller came up trumps and I got £1,200 out of court settlement. To make it even better, she called up to the delivery office and asked the DUM if RM would be taking any action against her. Some hope of that! So the DUM says it has nothing to do with RM (seriously!) and she walks away with a smug grin. A few days later, the police head around to her house and whizz her off to the cop shop for an interview. She's going mental and phoned the DUM to call him a liar etc. He tells her it's the union and not RM who are pursuing it. She's moved to another area, but every so often I see her and give her the thumbs up for giving me a great Christmas 1999.
Report the damn things mate. You never know what might happen!

[DGP1]

In my office it's the council dog warden you have to report it to, I have about 10 pages to fill in about my last dog bite just for the warden to talk to the owner (these are legal forms) I suppose I'll fill it in and get another 3 forms to report the menacing incidents in the past 2 days.

[nelson]

This is one thing the Kent area has got right. Soon as this happens letter to dog owner all delivery's stopped and reported to dog warden. The owner has to make arrangements ie box on the outside.
Put it in ERICA on Monday then refuse to deliver.

Best of luck

[brothermagrew]

Quite right mate, it shouldn't be up to you to report it to the police though, RM should take responsibility. Fat chance of that happening though.

Cheers m8

Para 3.10 of the Dealing with Dog Attacks - Good Practice Guide clearly states:

In all cases of injury staff will be encouraged to report the incident to the Police. Managers will actively support their staff during this reporting process. Where the Police decline to take action and RM considers there is sufficient evidence instructions will be given to Legal Services by the Accident Administration Units to act on behalf of victims in proceedings under the Dogs Act 1891 or the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Attack took place at 1150am Acting DOM usually pisses off hame at about 1030am. So much for managerial active support.

[ROCKY]

bitten on my day off near home believe it or not,repoted owner to dog warden who took immediate action,owners should also get letter from rm telling them to collect their own mail

[The Postal Avenger]

bitten on my day off near home believe it or not,repoted owner to dog warden who took immediate action,owners should also get letter from rm telling them to collect their own mail

Aye but who delivers the letter? We do! Happened to me in the past.

[cenn]

i got bitten on the leg just the other day, this makes it eight times i've been bitten, being a reserve postie I dont know where the dogs are so I usualy find out half way down the path, But this one i knew about. the owner has insisted that " it wont bite you, he just likes to bark, just ignore him"
so I did,
a few weeks earlier it snaped at the back of my leg but missed, the owner took no notice even though they were standing right next to me taking their mail.
this time the wee b'stard got me, with blood running down my leg hopping about cursing like a sailor the owner askes" did he just bite you ? " stating" he's NEVER done that before" then takes the mail goes in his house closes the door and leaves the bloody dog out there snarling at me, so the mut has another go as i turn to get back into my van, I dont pretend to be a particularly strong person but when i kicked the mut it lifted about a foot in the air landing on its face with a whelp :) with this the owners wife comes running out " you little bastard" she screams. "you kicked my wee dog" this is a working farm dog in no way is it small. so I show her the bite mark, six little holes in the back of my leg still with blood running out of them. " Oh" she sais " my husband told me it just scraped you" and to my surprise and satisfaction she gets ahold of the mut by the scruff of the neck and gives it one almighty punch then throws it into the house. since then i have noticed the dog has been tied up and a little sign on the way down the road to the farm saying"DELIVERY PERSONS. STAY IN CAR, SOUND HORN"
what gets me about this situation is the apethy towards dogs on delivery both by the public and management, ive even heard comments on the radio about this giving the impresion that its nothing more than a minor irritation to be passed by and or accepted as part of the job, out of interest i enquired at my local police office what would be the outcome if I were to defend myself with deadly force against a dog and was told that I could be charged with excessive force in the course of self defence,wtf??

[madelin4]

I wud never harm an animal myself. I have never been bitten as yet but if i was i wud get clear from the dog b4 i wud think of attacking it myself!!! I wud then go to hospital get treated with injections etc put it in the book in the office and make a claim... Happens in my place a bit. But dont agree with the attacks on the dog. People mite not agree with me .

[TrueBlueTerrier]

You could also use the excuse we used to use in the Forces - "I used the MINIMUM FORCE I thought that was required to ensure my safety" and then with a good union lawyer to back you up you should have no problems if you do kill someones mutt.

[cenn]

im not suggesting that i WOULD ever kill someones dog with intention, but let me ask you this , would you agree that ALL dogs that bite even once be it the owner thier self or someone else should be taken away from the owner immediately? and the owner completely banned from EVER owning another dog ? lets face it Dogs are primarily and naturaly a hunting aid with the exception of the freeks of nature that are lap dogs (scrawny little rats)
Its my oppinion that dogs that show agressive tendances do so due to the lack of knowlage in training a dog on the part of the owner
for example my two neibours have dogs one is a pure breed collie, a very beautiful dog but a viscious little snarler the other is a rottweiler, large muscular and menacing looking yet a friendlier dog you will never meet, not knowing this if you were to see both dogs in the street without owners which would you be more cautious of ?
btw I like dogs I've been a dog owner since i was 12 thats 23 years and a part time dog trainer for 4 years. I just hate people with dogs that have no idea how to control them and try to excuse it with " It's a dog thats what dogs do " bollox!! dogs do what they are allowed to do, are forced to do(by mistreating them) or trained to do.
here is a little example of forcing a dog to be aggressive,
Q."why dose my dog want to attack other dogs when on the leash ?"
A. simple beacause it assosiates other dogs with a sharp pain in the neck(as you yanked the leash to pull your dog away since it was a pup) solution , stop, crouch down behind you dog, talk gently to it while stroking its chest reasuring it.

[L Tommo]

The US one.. Dog whisperer.. And Dog bolstal...... I love that prog BUT If A 12ST Dog comes for my balls i aint got time to sit behind it and rub its chest as Most posties aint.....

I know this is a way when YOU own a dog but in the fact of a postie being attacked it wont help at all... I feel a level of once the dog attacks and bites it has to be taken away and trained by one of these methods on the TV progs... OR the owner cant be an owner of a dog fullstop..

To many people who i wouldnt let in charge or a tortoise let alone a very enigetic animal that could bring great danger to humans...

Training is all that is needed.. My cuz was a RAF dog handler and some of the dogs in his kennel were killers fullstop... But with one word they became like docile puppys... Training is key.. You control the dog not the other way round.. The pack mentality is there We are the Alpha In the pack so use it.... In a job like ours (delivery) If you dont get confronted by a animal that wants to hurt or kill you then your lucky...

Good luck everyone!!!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

This is a good discussion but just to get a feeling for how big the problem is I am going to add a poll.

[L Tommo]

Wish i ad one i would of hit the bastard over the nut with it TBT fecking mouse done me a right old gnash!!!