A postwoman has described how she was left in hospital for five days after a dog attacked her while she was delivering a parcel.
Julie Mundy, who has worked for Royal Mail for 19 years, was attacked on a customer's doorstep. Suffering a bite wound and a broken hip in the incident, which ended when the dog was dragged off her, she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The attack happened back in 2019, but Julie spoke out this week for the Royal Mail's Dog Awareness Week, aimed at reducing the thousands of fog attacks its staff endure every year.
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“I was delivering a parcel to a customer. I had never seen a dog there because the owner had always kept it out of the way. On this occasion, somebody else came to the door for the parcel and brought the dog with them.
"Like many others, they tried to hold on to the dog while at the same time trying to accept their mail. This time the dog broke free and dived straight at me.
"I started back because I just wasn't expecting it and I fell on the curb in the garden and broke my hip.
"By then the dog was on top of me but I couldn’t move – but I didn’t realise at that point I had broken my hip. The customer came and dragged the dog off me and another neighbour from across the road came over to help.
"My arm was bleeding where the dog had bitten me because I had been trying to cover my face.
"The neighbour from across the road cleaned me up and bandaged my arm and called an ambulance. I had to remain on the floor in the garden as I couldn’t walk.
"I spent five days in hospital. The pain was horrendous. I was subsequently off work for three months."
Royal Mail took the owner of the dog to court and they received an 18-month suspended jail term for the incident.
But the attack has left Julie, of Nantwich, Cheshire, traumatised and she now says she freezes every time she hears a dog barking.
"Following the attack, I have suffered from post-traumatic stress. As soon as I hear a barking dog, I freeze," she said.
"It never used to bother me that much but I’m not as confident as I used to be. If I had to give our customers one piece of advice, it would be, please don’t bring your dogs to the door with you to accept your mail or parcels.
"People are becoming more aware that they can be prosecuted if their dog bites anyone visiting their property for work.”
Julie's story came to light as Royal Mail revealed 1,690 dog attacks were reported in the country during 2020/21, a 31 per cent decrease on the previous year.
Dr Shaun Davis, Royal Mail Group Global Director of Safety, Health, Wellbeing and Sustainability, said: “We are pleased to see such a significant decrease in dog attacks on our staff this past year.
"However, 33 dog attacks per week on postal workers is still alarmingly high. We are aware that a change in our delivery procedures was the main factor for the reduction in attacks this year.
"So, we are asking our customers – and our colleagues - not to become complacent as there is still much work to do in bringing the figure down even further. The safety of our people is of paramount importance as they work hard to keep the UK connected.”
