POSTAL WORKERS UNION CALLS ON NEXT GOVERNMENT TO TOUGHEN UP DOG CONTROL LAWS
COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION
03/07/2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called for the next British government to toughen up existing laws on dog control and police enforcement, as the 12th annual Dog Awareness Week takes place across Britain.
In the year ending 31st March 2024, 2,206 Royal Mail workers were attacked by dogs – a 1.5% increase on the previous year.
An average of 42 delivery postal workers are attacked by dogs every week.
This increase in dog attacks has been registered in wider society, with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital recently announcing that dog attacks have risen by 70% and 29 people being mauled to death by dogs since 2021.
CWU National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce said: “Dog attacks in the UK is a national crisis and remains a major safety hazard and concern for postmen and women who are in the front line, as it does for the public and the scale of the problem shouldn’t be underestimated by anyone.
“Yet again we’ve seen an increase in dog attacks on postal workers which has risen by 15% for the second year running across the nation.”
“The incoming new UK government needs to prioritise firm action on dog control or continue to face a rapidly growing explosion in deaths and injuries. We continue to see a very concerning increase in dog bite incidents and severe dog attacks and the steep upwards trend constitutes a growing risk to the safety and health of postal workers who serve all of the country’s 32 million addresses daily, unlike any other workforce.”
“The CWU has called on all political parties that whoever forms the next government following the 4 July general election needs to take firm action on dog control law and police enforcement plus the Courts need to hand down effective sentences which are within their power but not utilised.”
ENDS
For further enquiries, please contact CWU Press Officer Marcus Barnett at mbarnett@cwu.org or Dave Joyce at djoyce@cwu.org.