Nearly 2000 Australia Postofficers have been attacked by a dog over a nine-month period, prompting an urgent warning from the national service.
There have been 1885 incidents involving a dog and an AusPost officer since July 2022, with 650 happening in New South Wales.
These incidents include being attacked, harassed or chased by dogs.
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Queensland post workers saw 555 incidents involving a dog, while Western Australia posties had 329 incidents.
Victoria and Tasmania post officers suffered 218 dog-related incidents combined, while the Northern Territory and South Australia posties experienced 133 incidents.
Australia Post Executive General Manager People and Culture, Susan Davies asked residents to ensure their dogs are secured safely inside their homes or in their backyards.
"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," she said.
"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."
The increased dog attacks come after over one million pets were purchased through the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia Post said.
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Suburbs in New South Wales with the highest amount of dog attacks included the Nepean, New England and Hunter regions, Alexandria, Wollongong and St Leonards.
In Queensland, dogs in Darra Bundamba and Toowoomba gave posties the most grief.
Australia Post has established a Cross Industry Dog Safety Taskforce and will work with other mail providers to help prevent dog attacks on posties.
They have released a short criteria on how to keep your dog secure, and your postie safe:
- Keep your front gate closed securely
- Keep your dog in the backyard rather than the front when its possible to do so
- Be careful when opening the door to accept a package, make sure your dog won't run out from behind you.
- Keep your dog securely in another room when opening the door
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