Australia Post is urging dog owners to properly secure their pets this holiday season, as new data reveals 46 posties a week are falling victim to dog-related incidents – an average of nine per day.
More than 1,190 dog-related incidents have occurred nationwide in the past six months, with growing fears these numbers will rise as deliveries surge during the busy sales and Christmas season.
The worst suburbs in Victoria are Mooroolbark, Sunshine West and Essendon Fields.
Despite repeated appeals for owners to secure their pets when expecting a delivery, aggressive and unpredictable dog behaviour remains a growing safety risk for posties.
Alarmingly, one in three incidents occurs on customer property – all of these occurring either at the front door or when the postie is approaching or leaving the front door to deliver a parcel. A further 62 per cent occur on the street, with more than 80 per cent of those involving dogs escaping a property or roaming freely without an owner present. One in three street incidents involved a postie being chased by a dog, highlighting the real and immediate danger faced by frontline team members.
Australia Post will cease deliveries to a property or street if a postie is threatened or injured by an aggressive dog. To help protect team members, Posties have also been equipped with citronella spray as a last-line-of-defence safety measure. In the past six months, the deterrent has been effective in 90 per cent of cases, causing dogs to retreat and giving posties crucial time to get to safety.
Australia Post general manager safety, Russell Munro said simple actions from dog owners can make a critical difference during the busiest delivery period of the year.
“Our posties want to be able to deliver for our customers without fear of being attacked or chased by a dog. Regardless of breed or temperament, we urge all owners to keep their dogs safely contained when expecting deliveries.
“While the rollout of citronella spray has helped in many situations, we’re still seeing far too many cases of aggressive dog behaviour and unfortunately can’t prevent all incidents from occurring. We’ve seen the number of cases increase over the past six months, which shows there’s still more work to be done to keep our posties safe.
“If you’re expecting a parcel delivery, our app makes it easy to stay informed with up-to-date delivery times and now displays a timely reminder to secure your dog in another room or behind a gate,” Mr Munro said.
Australia Post reports all dog-related incidents to local councils to ensure proper enforcement is undertaken and the risk is mitigated.
Prevention in the first instance is key. Australia Post advises dog owners to follow the three PAWS for delivery steps: Sit, Stay, Secure
• Sit your dog safely in a contained place, separate room, or behind a locked gate at the back of
the home when expecting a delivery.
• Make sure it’s somewhere the dog can Stay while your postie delivers your parcel.
• Keep your dog Secure behind your door or gate, allowing the postie safe access to make the delivery and leave the property.
• If you are unable to properly secure your dog, consider using your nearest parcel locker.
