POSTMEN getting mauled by aggressive dogs? It's comedy postcard stuff but, as we reported over Christmas, there is little to laugh about when a tetchy mutt whacks his teeth into your soft parts.
However let's first put into context the understandable concerns of the Royal Mail's heroic post people – men and women who will venture into the most dangerous territory to ensure you get your utility bills on time.
Much as I sympathise with any postman who gets a close-up view of a gleaming array of fangs, let's remember that the number of dog attacks on Notts representatives of the Royal Mail has actually declined dramatically to half the rate of 2009.
Agreed, the 2012 total of 64 attacks is still 64 too many.
But the number of incidents is bound to continue falling as the Royal Mail accelerates its inevitable decline in the electronic age, with one post- charge increase after another.
Twelve bob for a first-class letter? Believe me, it won't catch on.
Fewer letters will require fewer postmen and women – so in the long term it's not looking good for the slavering hounds who look forward to nothing more than growling, drooling and going into crouching mode at the sight of a scarlet Royal Mail anorak or fleece.
Opportunities for giving their gnashers a work-out will be fewer and further between.
And not just for canines. According to our report, dogs are responsible only for the "majority" of animal attacks on postmen.
Which makes you wonder what other creatures have been lying in ambush as garden gates open and the mailman ventures down the concrete path: Thumper the rabbit? Keith the anaconda?
While the falling rate of attacks on Royal Mail personnel is not one of the many things that keep me awake at night, I would still encourage the organisation to adopt a more muscular approach to dealing with aggressive dogs and their completely useless owners.
After an attack by a dog on a postman – and I mean an injurious or an aggressive attack, not a playful lunge or a slobbering kiss – I would expect the organisation automatically to stop delivering to that property until the owners of the creature can provide satisfactory assurances.
They can always go and pick up their mail at the sorting office, preferably leaving their dog at home.
Furthermore I would expect the Royal Mail to help the postman seek damages for any injury sustained.
As I understand it the Royal Mail has a legal duty to deliver your post, which strengthens the case for the law to be changed to allow the prosecution of owners whose dogs act dangerously on private property.
The postman is not someone making an unreasonable intrusion into your garden – he is there on public business and is entitled to the same protection he has in a public place.
Yes, this will be less of a problem as the years pass – but we should cherish our postmen and women while we have them and afford them the protection they deserve.
