Australia Post is asking for all dog owners, including those in Casey, to secure their dogs around posties, as new data shows there were 1885 incidents involving dogs and posties reported between July 2022 and March 2023.
The warning comes off the back of recent news that there were 382 dog attacks reported in Casey between April 2022 and April 2023.
The data broke the 2021-22 financial year’s record of 1587 reported incidents, with Australia Post attributing some of the increase to the over a million additional dogs brought into Australian households between 2019-2021, including during the height of the Covid pandemic.
Victoria and Tasmania had a combined 218 dog-related incidents (up five per cent), while New South Wales saw the largest number of incidents at 650 in nine months, already about 28 per cent higher than the full year results the year prior.
Australia Post people and culture executive general manager Susan Davies said all residents should safely secure their dog, either in the home or in the back garden, to protect posties and the broader community.
“Dogs off-leash or escaping their yard and chasing down our posties, often along busy major roads, are of particular concern given the safety implications not only for our delivery personnel and the dog, but also those in the community,” she said.
“We’re seeing increased instances of our posties sustaining injuries by either falling off their vehicles while trying to avoid unrestrained dogs, or getting physically attacked by dogs jumping up and biting them.
“We want our team to be able to safely deliver to all Australians, so urge dog owners to please secure their dogs in the backyard or indoors.”
Tips to secure dogs around posties include keeping the front gate securely closed, securing dogs in the back garden rather than the front garden and keeping any side gates securely closed and being careful when opening the front door or keeping dogs in another room when you answer the door.
Australia Post is looking for help from other organisations via its Cross Industry Dog Safety Taskforce, which will share insights on how to prevent and avoid dog attacks.
“We’re really excited about the collaborative nature of this taskforce and hope to be able to not only share our own insights into managing dog safety but also learn from others across various service industries,” Ms Davies said.
“We all have the same goal of protecting our team members, so it will be incredibly valuable to share our collective knowledge as we work to decrease the number of incidents.”
For more tips about preventing dog attacks on posties, visit auspost.com.au/about-us/corporate-responsibility/our-people/safety/dog-safety.
