Royal Mail symbol used to warn employees of dangerous dogs

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Royal Mail has shared some tips for dog owners after it was reported there's an average of 32 attacks on its delivery staff each week in the UK.

This adds up to around 1,673 attacks last year, with some leading to permanent and disabling injuries. The postal company has responded by identifying potentially dangerous homes on their drivers' handheld devices to alert the user that a dog is at the property, the Mirror reports.

The alert, which shows a symbol of a dog at any potentially dangerous addresses, is being launched across devices used by all Royal Mail delivery staff over the next few months.It's hoped it will help minimise injuries by letting staff know if they'll encounter a dangerous dog.

It's also useful for those on unfamiliar rounds, who may not know of the threats at certain addresses. Philip Graham, Royal Mail interim director of safety, health, wellbeing and sustainability, told the Mirror : "We know the number of attacks rises during the school holidays and in the summer months when parents and children are at home and dogs are sometimes allowed unsupervised in the garden or out onto the streets without restraints. "While we want our customers to enjoy being outside with their pets, we also want to ask them to consider the danger unsupervised dogs pose to our colleagues."Letterbox attacks were the subject of a High Court ruling in 2020 that stated dog owners (or those in care of a dog) can be prosecuted if their pets have free access to the letterbox and cause injury to any delivery operative, whether the owner is at home or not.There were 387 injuries suffered through the letterbox last year, making up nearly a quarter of all attacks.In May 2017, a Royal Mail postman lost the tip of his finger while