Dog owners across the outer east are being urged this holiday season to secure their pets as postie safety concerns continue to rise.
Mooroolbark remains the highest-ranked suburb in Victoria for dog-related postie attacks, followed by Sunshine West and Essendon Fields.
Despite Victoria ranking fourth and far below New South Wales’ total number of incidents at 342, the 179 across the state remain a great concern for Australia Post.
More than 1190 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.
This equates to 46 posties a week falling victim to dog-related attacks, averaging nine incidents per day.
Injuries include puncture wounds, lacerations, scratches, and bites. In other instances, Australia Post General Manager Safety, Russell Munro said posties have been knocked off their bikes.
“We’ve had posties ending up in hospital recently, one of our posties was attacked by a dog, knocked to the ground. She received serious bite wounds to her legs, arms and chest,” he said.
“Many of our team members also suffer long-term psychological impacts. Posties need safe access to the property without being attacked, chased, or harassed by your dog.”
Senior delivery officer Wayne Cleary said he had to have surgery after a dog bit down on his hand.
“I came upon this house, and I knew there was a dog there at this particular time. The lady was coming towards the door, so I held out my hand so I could deliver it to her, and then the dog got up and grabbed my hand,” he said.
“It wasn’t actually biting at the time, but then the lady freaked out…That’s when the dog bit down and pierced the webbing of my hand.”
One in three incidents occurs on customer property at the front door or when the postie is approaching or leaving 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.
A third of street incidents involved a postie being chased by a dog, highlighting the real and immediate danger faced by frontline team members.
In June, Australia Post rolled out citronella spray for all posties to carry as “a last line of defence”.
The deterrent has been effective in 90 per cent of cases, causing dogs to retreat and giving posties crucial time to get to safety, but Mr Munro said “it’s not a magic fix”.
Mr 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,” he said.
“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, we 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.”
Mr Munro said that if you’re expecting a parcel delivery for a certain day and time, ensure your dog is secured in another room or behind a gate.
He encouraged people to use the Australia Post app, as it makes it easy for people to stay up-to-date with expected delivery times and now displays a reminder about securing dogs.
Australia Post reports all dog-related incidents to local councils to ensure proper enforcement is undertaken and the risk is mitigated.
Deliveries will cease to a property or street if a postie is threatened or injured by an aggressive dog.
Prevention in the first instance is key. Australia Post advises dog owners to follow the three PAWS for delivery steps: Sit, Stay, Secure.
