UK postal workers “safer” with adoption of tougher dog controls
The UK has adopted new laws that should provide stronger legal protection for postal carriers when faced with dangerous dogs on their routes
The Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Bill was granted Royal Assent last week, amending the Dangerous Dogs Act for the first time in 23 years, with new rules becoming effective from May 2014.
The new rules will mean that action can be taken against dog owners if their pets attack a postman or woman even when on private property.
Previously, legal protection over dog attacks was limited to public spaces, meaning postal delivery staff entering private gardens to deliver mail to the door were not protected.
The new rules could also mean longer prison sentences for owners if their dogs prove dangerous.
Royal Mail, which highlighted the problem through an independent report commissioned by Chairman Donald Brydon in November 2012, welcomed the new rules on Friday.
The company said there were more than 2,400 attacks on its postmen and women from April 2012 to April 2013, some leading to permanent disabling injury.
Brydon said he believed that greater public awareness over the penalties for dangerous dogs should see a “significant” reduction in the number of incidents in future.
“The welfare and safety of our people is our first priority. We are only too aware of the life changing physical and psychological injuries that can be sustained from dog attacks.Nobody should have to endure this and our postmen and women should not be at increased risk of such attacks simply because of the job they do,” he said.
The new rules extend to England and Wales, since both Scotland and Northern Ireland already have legislation that extends controls into private property.
“Improvements”
The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents more than 115,000 non-management staff at Royal Mail, welcomed the new rules, stating its belief that the tougher controls will being “significant improvements” to the lives of delivery staff.
The union, which has been campaigning for seven years to secure tougher measures against dangerous dogs, said more than 26,000 postal workers have been attacked and injured by dogs in the last six years in the UK.
Dave Joyce, the CWU health and safety officer who has led the union’s “Bite-Back” campaign over the issue, said the changes would help keep thousands of postal workers safer.
“This will bring significant improvements to the safety of all workers whose job it is to visit and enter houses and commercial premises where the risk of dog attack is ever present,” he said.
“Reckless, negligent owners, who previously exploited a legal loophole when their animals attacked and injured postal workers, will no longer be able to escape justice. These new rules mean these owners will be held accountable and face a substantial increase in sentencing penalties.”
Joyce added that a national dog ownership education and training programme was now needed along with tough law enforcement.
