UK: 2,019 postal workers attacked by dogs in a year, 38 a week
Royal Mail records 2,019 dog attacks on postal workers in 2025/26: 38 a week, with 52% at the front door. The 'he doesn't bite, he just plays' claim in numbers.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
2,019 dog attacks on postal workers in the past year: the figure that demolishes the 'he's just playing' excuse
How many times have you heard "he doesn't bite, he's just playing" as a dog lunges at the postman? Royal Mail has just released its 2025/26 data and the myth crumbles under the numbers: 2,019 attacks, 38 a week. The good news is that's down 8% on the previous year. The bad news is that the breakdown reveals where it's really happening.
52% of attacks (1,048) happen at the front door, 4% more than last year. Another 25% (511) occur in the garden, path or yard. And 324 injuries come straight through the letterbox. Yes, the dog waits on the other side as if it were a food delivery. It's not that the postal worker is "going where they shouldn't": it's the dog defending its territory.
The workplace consequences are brutal: 3,442 days off sick, with one case lasting more than 300 days. 61 serious injuries, though that's down from 74 the previous year. The physical reality of a postal worker includes dealing with animals that, according to their owners, had "never done that before".
The debate over how to protect delivery workers is nothing new. While Australia already equips its postal workers with special repellent spray, in the UK the problem remains at doors and in gardens. Some voices call for drastic measures, others remind us that the dog is the owner's responsibility. The fact is that 38 attacks a week are not "play".
How many times have you heard "he doesn't bite, he's just playing" as a dog lunges at the postman? Royal Mail has just released its 2025/26 data and the myth crumbles under the numbers: 2,019 attacks, 38 a week. The good news is that's down 8% on the previous year. The bad news is that the breakdown reveals where it's really happening.
52% of attacks (1,048) happen at the front door, 4% more than last year. Another 25% (511) occur in the garden, path or yard. And 324 injuries come straight through the letterbox. Yes, the dog waits on the other side as if it were a food delivery. It's not that the postal worker is "going where they shouldn't": it's the dog defending its territory.
The workplace consequences are brutal: 3,442 days off sick, with one case lasting more than 300 days. 61 serious injuries, though that's down from 74 the previous year. The physical reality of a postal worker includes dealing with animals that, according to their owners, had "never done that before".
The debate over how to protect delivery workers is nothing new. While Australia already equips its postal workers with special repellent spray, in the UK the problem remains at doors and in gardens. Some voices call for drastic measures, others remind us that the dog is the owner's responsibility. The fact is that 38 attacks a week are not "play".
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (13 replies).
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