LEAVING dogs free to roam the garden during summer is putting Jersey’s posties at risk, the Island’s postal service has warned.
The postal service told the JEP it has recorded around 50 dog bites since 2022, including nine already this year, and is urging owners to take “sensible precautions” to prevent incidents.
The warning comes as Guernsey Post launches a campaign under the slogan ‘Protect Our Posties. Protect Your Pets’.
Despite being less than half the size of Jersey’s operation, Guernsey Post records an average of two dog bites a month.
Chief operating officer Julie Thomas said: “We see an increase in dog related incidents in the Summer as people leave doors open and allow their dogs free access to outside space.
“Some dogs don’t take kindly to someone approaching their house and the reaction can be barking, jumping or a bite.”
In some cases, deliveries to an address have to be paused “until we are confident the dog owner has taken steps to properly secure their dog”.
“Any immediate physical injuries can be painful and sometimes require hospital treatment or result in scarring, but the emotional impact can last much longer, leaving colleagues anxious about the potential for similar incidents,” Ms Thomas added.
However, she welcomed recent amendments to the Island’s Dogs Law, saying they gave Jersey Post “a clearer route to report incidents”.
The service said that they focused on prevention and “promote sensible precautions to our posties while asking our customers to take simple steps… to help protect our posties and keep deliveries running safely”.
These include ensuring dogs are secured before opening the door or allowing access to gardens where deliveries are made, preventing children from answering the door if they may struggle to control a dog, and using alternative delivery locations such as SecureDrop where appropriate.
Dog owners can set up alternative delivery points, such as SecureDrop, in a place the dog can’t access, and letter cages that prevent dogs from reaching posties through the door can help.
The service runs webinars and has postcards available for download that dog owners can display to warn posties that they have a dog. They are available at jerseypost.com/letters-and-parcels/resources/dog-awareness.
