Postman suffers 'worst nightmare' dog attack in Sheffield

BBC News

3 days ago

A postman said his "worst nightmare" came true when he was attacked by two Rottweilers and suffered injuries to his arm, head and back.At the end of last year, Alan Spear was delivering a parcel to a property in Sheffield when a small child opened the door and two large dogs ran out from behind her.One of them jumped at Mr Spear, causing him to roll down the sloped garden and hit the front wall. While he laid on the floor, one of the dogs jumped on top of him and the other bit his arm."I was not on death's door, but it could have been a child that knocked - it could have been a hell of a lot worse," he said.
The owner was "mortified" after coming out of the house to "drag the dog" away and ultimately chose to have one of the animals put to sleep, Mr Spear said."He was in bits at what happened, and he was shocked," he said.Postal workers in the Sheffield area were more likely to be attacked by dogs than anywhere else, with 66 dog attacks in 2024/25, and 41 the previous year, according to Royal Mail.
'They're protecting their families'
Mr Spear said it was a "misconception" that posties did not like dogs and most understood the animals' protective nature."There's just an unpredictability with dogs," he said."A dog may seem very relaxed with you, however if it thinks someone is threatening its house, it will react."Dogs are territorial, they are protecting their families; it's not their fault."Mr Spear required antibiotics and a tetanus jab after the attack, then a further course of antibiotics after the wound became infected."When I banged my back on the wall, that took quite a long time to get better. I still do get some back pain even now," he said."I have seen life-changing injuries from dog attacks. It's not a joke at all."He recommended people put a cage on their letterbox, so dogs do not try and bite postal workers' fingers.Even better, he said, would be to have an external post box at the front of the house."Lying on the ground - it was quite scary," he said."To say I was fortunate is an understatement."Royal Mail recorded almost 2,200 dog attacks on staff in the UK last year.A spokesperson said: "Royal Mail continues to call on the public to be vigilant and responsible by securing their pets before opening the door to receive mail or packages."
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