With more people home during the coronavirus pandemic, postal workers are dealing with more dogs, and sometimes aggressive dogs, as well.
There have been a number of incidents in Canada Post’s Langley/Surrey/White Rock area in 2019 and 2020, said Nicole Lecompte, a spokesperson for the mail delivery service.
Now Canada Post is asking people to keep their dogs inside during mail delivery.
“Our request to dog owners: Please do not open the door during deliveries or allow your dog to approach our employees while they are out in the community,” said Lecompte. “This makes it difficult to adhere to physical distancing when owners need to retrieve their dogs, and it increases the risk of dog bites.”
It’s not just a cliche that dogs and letter carriers can come into conflict.
“More than a dozen of these incidents required medical attention because of dog bites,” she said.
Canada Post is asking people to keep their dogs inside when postal workers are delivering parcels and mail to doorsteps.
“When there is a particular situation related to a dog at an address that makes it unsafe for our employees, we will work with the homeowner to find a solution,” Lecompte said.
However, if there’s an issue with a dog at a particular home, mail delivery may be temporarily suspended to that home. Residents get a notification of how to pickup their mail, said Lecompte.
Postal workers may also call on local bylaw officers to help as an additional safety measure.
“Our goal is to avoid dog-related incidents for our delivery agents or anyone else who visits the residence,” Lecompte said.
