Belfast Royal Mail workers suffered second highest rate of dog attacks across UK last year

Belfast saw the second highest rate of dog attacks on Royal Mail workers across the UK over the last year.

According to the company there were 56 such attacks on workers between March 2022 - March 2023.

Only Staff in the Tunbridge Wells postcode area reported more incidents during the year, with 65 workers suffering attacks.

The numbers come as dog attacks on postal workers surged to nearly 2,000 reported incidents. There were 1,916 dog attacks on postal workers logged during the year to March 31 2023, the Royal Mail said on Monday. This is up 14% on the 1,673 reported dog attacks on Royal Mail staff the previous year.

Some “posties” suffered serious injuries, including one woman who has revealed she needed surgery after she was savaged by a dog. The postal service company has released the figures at the state of the annual ‘dog awareness week’, as bosses urge owners “take proper measures to ensure their pets pose no threat to postal workers through responsible dog ownership”. Some 902 dog attacks, or 47%, took place at the front door, while a further 515, 27%, happened in the garden, drive or yard and 118, 6%, occurred in the street or road. There were 381 injuries suffered through the letterbox, accounting for 20% of attacks on postal workers. Letterbox attacks were the subject of a 2020 High Court ruling that stated dog owners, or those looking after a dog, can be prosecuted if their pets have free access to the letterbox and cause injury to any delivery workers, the Royal Mail noted. Dog attacks on postal workers resulted in more than 3,014 days of absence last year.

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