Australia Post has issued a warning this festive season as dog attacks on posties rise.
For the first time in over two years, NSW has taken the top spot as the worst state in the country for dog related incidents involving posties.
Within NSW, western Sydney is one of the areas with the highest number of recorded incidents.
New nationwide data has revealed that 46 posties a week are victim to dog related incidents, an average of nine incidents per day.
More than 1,190 dog-related incidents have occurred nationwide in the last six months, with Australia Post fearing this number will rise as deliveries surge during the sales and Christmas season.
One in three incidents occurs on customer property, 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 of incidents occur on the street, with more than 80 per cent of those involving dogs escaping a property or roaming freely without their owner present.
One in three incidents involved a postie being chased by a dog.
Australia Post will cease deliveries to a property or street if a postie is threatened or injured by an aggressive dog.
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,” Munro said.
“Regardless of breed or temperament, we urge all owners to keep their dogs safely contained when expecting deliveries.
Posties have recently 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 give posties time to get to safety.
“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,” Munro said.
Australia Post is urging Australians to secure their animals in either a separate room or a locked yard at the back of the home when expecting a delivery.
“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,” Munro said.
“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.”
Australia Post reports all dog-related incidents to local councils to ensure proper enforcement is undertaken and the risk is mitigated.
