TACKLING DOG ATTACKS ON POSTMEN AND POSTWOMEN

That this House notes that the number of dog attacks on postmen and postwomen in the UK is too high; is concerned by the frequency of attacks on workers and a lack of appropriate action in response; further notes that Royal Mail estimates that over 3,000 postmen and postwomen were attacked between April 2011 and April 2012; believes that no postal workers should face increased risk and fear of dog attacks because of their profession; further notes that England is soon to be the only part of the UK without updated dog laws; welcomes the provisions already contained within the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill for the protection of postal workers when they enter customers' gardens to deliver the post; and calls on the Government to fill two loopholes in the Bill to protect an individual if attacked in a communal area of a block of flats and to provide further remedy if the person is bitten when pushing mail or other items through a letter box.