Guy’s story

Throughout last week’s Dog Awareness Week, we appealed to dog owners to ensure they understand the devastating impact that dog attacks can have on our postmen and women and offered hints and tips to colleagues for reporting and preventing attacks.

Leeds postman, Guy Spandler, knows more than most the dangers dogs present, as he has previously suffered an attack on his round.

‘The attack I suffered happened as I was delivering a parcel to a customer’s house,’ he explains. ‘I knocked on the customer’s door and heard three different dogs barking. The customer came to the door and opened it just enough to speak to me and to keep the dogs from getting out.’

After Guy handed the parcel over, he started walking away down the customer’s drive. ‘I had only taken a few steps when I became aware of a sharp pain on my backside,’ he said. ‘I turned to see a dog running away from me back to the open door with the lady stood at the now fully open door.

‘The dog ran in the house and the lady started apologising about her dog biting me, stating that he'd done it before, and she couldn’t control him.

‘Back at Sheepscar Delivery Office after finishing my walk, I went into the toilets and checked the injury. The skin wasn't broken, but I had bruising from the dog's teeth. I reported this to the manager and the police were called and a statement was given.

‘The physical effect was a bruise on my backside, which took a good two weeks to heal. Fortunately, there were no mental effects from this attack.’

The reality is that Guy’s experience is not an isolated incident. We are currently seeing around seven dog attacks on colleagues every single day. The risks posed by dogs are real and ongoing for our colleagues on delivery.

‘Postmen and women come across dogs every day and as such, they get complacent about the risks that these animals carry and the injuries they can inflict,’ said Guy.

‘I’m speaking out about the attack I suffered because I would like other postmen and women to understand that we can lower the numbers of dog attacks on each other by having a uniform approach to aggressive dogs and their owners.

‘We go to work every day to deliver mail and be part of the community. We need to be constantly thinking about the threat that dogs pose.’