You may be wondering what might happen if your dog attacks a postie.
The rivalry between dogs and people who deliver your letters has been a long one, and the latest instalment is an incident where a postie kicked a dog in the face.
A Royal Mail postman kicked cockapoo Bella in the face after she jumped out of a ground floor window and into the garden when he opened the garden gate.
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The dog's owner Nikki Walker heard a 'yelp of pain' and rushed out to see what was happening, and the postie told her to 'do what the f**k she wants'.
When asked if he'd kicked the dog, he claimed he 'put his leg up to stop her from jumping'.
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: "We are aware of an incident involving one of our postmen and a dog on Green Lea in Leeds.
“Our first priority as an employer is to ensure the welfare and safety of our people who provide a valuable service to our customers. The vast majority of dog owners are very responsible and keep their pets under control.
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“However, last year, there were over 2,200 dog attacks on postmen and women in the UK – some resulting in life-changing injuries.
"We continue to appeal to dog owners to secure their pets when the postie arrives to help reduce the number of attacks, particularly at the door and in the garden.”
So, what happens if your dog does attack a postie?
What happens if your dog attacks a postman?
According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), it's against the law to have a dog that is out of control anywhere.
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Whether it's in a public place, someone else's private property, or within the confines of your own home, the owner of any dog that is anywhere in the UK and deemed to be out of control is committing a criminal offence.
A dog is considered to be 'dangerously out of control' if it injures someone or makes someone fear that it might injure them.
A court could also decide a dog is dangerous if it attacks someone else's animal, or if the owner of another animal fears they might be injured should they try to stop a dog from attacking an animal they own.
There is an exception to this known as the 'householder exemption' which can be invoked if there is a trespasser inside your home that gets attacked by your dog.
However, this won't save you in the case of postal workers, since there was a case about this where a postie was bitten on the fingers while putting letters through a letterbox.
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The court ruled: "The letterbox is an open invitation to visitors to post mail through it and can involve the insertion of fingers for a short time. The postal worker was, therefore, not a trespasser in these circumstances."
That exemption also doesn't apply to trespassers in gardens, outbuildings and driveways so it's not a defence you can use if your dog attacks a postman.
Your other defence is if you left your dog in the care of someone you thought was a 'fit and proper person' to look after it.
What punishments could you face if your dog attacks a postman?
Criminal offences
The punishments you might face vary significantly depending on how much physical and psychological harm your dog did, and how culpable you are deemed to be.
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The Sentencing Council explains that your culpability depends on factors such as whether the dog has been trained to be aggressive, whether you're disqualified from owning a dog, tried to intervene in the harmful incident or not, and whether it's something you could reasonably have foreseen.
Basically, if your dog is deemed to have been trained as a weapon, you ignored warnings about the dog, and did not try and stop it, then you're going to be in much more trouble than a situation where you tried to prevent that could be put down to a momentary lapse in concentration.
If your dog kills someon,e then you're facing up to 14 years in prison and the very least you could hope to get away with is a high level community order.
In the case of a dog attacking someone the range of possible sentences is wide, with the least serious harm and least culpable situations getting you a fine while the most serious cases carrying the potential for up to four years in prison.
A court may also order the dog to be destroyed.
Civil claims
In addition to criminal offences, you could also face a civil claim for compensation.
Royal Mail does have a compensation scheme for their staff with those who are off sick for at least a week able to submit a claim and they can be paid up to 13 weeks average wages.
However, as a dog owner, you could also find yourself having to pay out money in compensation, as part of the 1871 Dogs Act lets a civil complaint be made against you for having a dangerous dog.
Royal Mail policy
As far as Royal Mail are concerned, dog attacks on their staff are a regular and ongoing problem.
In the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, there were 2,206 reported dog attacks which they say is an increase of 15 percent over the previous year.
Dog attacks causing serious injuries also increased significantly from 33 to 82, and Royal Mail staff were off work for a total of 2,273 days due to dog attacks.
Just under half of attacks happen at the front door, and slightly more than a quarter occur in the garden or drive.
If Royal Mail decides that your address has a dog which is a threat to their staff, then they can suspend deliveries to your property, which means you're cut off from post.
One street in Liverpool was cut off from post for six months after a dog attack.
They also say that in the past decade, they've 'carried out over 30 private prosecutions against dog owners'.
Joe Harker