My Brother is a postman, and has had his fair run in with a lot of unruly dogs, but more so with the dogs owners over the years.
Like me, my brother was brought up around dogs all his life, and can tell the difference between a dog that just wants to interact, and one that wants to cause harm. In the case of the latter, he refuses to deliver the post, and leaves it at a designated collection point.
Based on the lack or reminder letters that he has to deliver to the residents regarding dogs license renewal, the majority of houses he calls to with dogs, don’t actually have licences.
Wouldn’t you think that An Post who issue dog licences in Ireland, would ask their staff that are delivering post to all the private residents in Ireland, to conduct a census on their route as to the households that have dogs, and then cross reference this against their database ?
Anyway in the UK the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) are currently looking into a loophole in the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act
They are planning to amend dangerous dog legislation to make it an offence for pet owners who fail to control their animals within their house or garden.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) estimates that over 5500 of it’s members are attacked each year, and current laws leave their members vulnerable when visiting houses where so called dangerous dogs are kept.
Under the amendment Local councils will be able to issue a kind of ‘DOGBO’ on a Dog – an animal version of an ASBO. This could result in the offending owner having to muzzle the dog when it is not in the house, including the garden.
Tackling the problem of irresponsible dog ownership is high on DEFRA’s list.
Just as well, as we all know that it’s very seldom the dogs fault when it comes to biting / attacking us humans, but the irresponsible dog owner that has either trained the dog to react in this way, or through lack of socialisation and training turned the dog into a dangerous menace that can impede on the vital services that ambulance / police personnel provide, and stop then from gaining entry to a premises.
Follow