Dog bite - where do I stand?

Oberon

Oberon

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So the dogs will bite the mail when it comes through the door. And you risk getting your fingers nipped too.

It's not a stiff letterbox and it's easy to slip mail through without putting your hand in my house!

All the same, we put a guard against the door for the postman, so the dogs can't get to the mail during the day.

But once the post has been, we let the old girl lie in the doorway as she likes it there.

We have a "No circulars or canvessers" sign and also a "No Cold Selling" sign on the front door.

We've just had a piece of junk mail posted through the door and I heard a thump against the door. By the time I got to the window, I saw a lad walking down the road, shaking his hand and gesturing to this house to his girlfriend.

I think he may have been bitten. Then the dogs started barking as though there was a threat and I think the lad may have approached the house again, but then thought better of it.

Can we get in trouble for him being bitten?
 
Yes Oberon, I'm afraid to say that you can.

I'm not going to lecture you, but your dog is your responsibility. You realise that, I'm sure.

"IF" this is a genuine first occasion, and you are truly contrite, then it will be accepted, I'm sure, that you weren't aware of your dog's approach to visitors. ;)

If you claim that guarding your premises is part of your dog's duties, then you may be in the mire. Think carefully, should officialdom come a knocking, and if they do, have your dog under control.

Alec.
 
Yes, I certainly think you can, and should, get in trouble. I would be livid if I had been bitten merely putting letters through a letter box. Why can you not just put one of those mail baskets over the letter box?
 
Tricky. I know nothing about the ass that is the law of this country and you have clearly stated no canvessors or circulars. If he's a pedantic, bit between his teeth sort of bloke, then things could get difficult. Chances are, he has admitted to himself he ignored your instructions and suffered as a result and had a bit of a rant and will know in future to avoid your house!:)
 
CaveCanem said:
You *can* get into trouble, rightly or wrongly, but hopefully you won't. I'd keep your guard up full time on the letterbox, there is no accounting for morons.
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why is someone a moron for posting something through your door ?
 
Because there are signs on the door asking for people not to post things through the door.

We have a "No circulars or canvessers" sign and also a "No Cold Selling" sign on the front door.

We have a 'private' sign on our property which people blithely ignore too.
 
CaveCanem said:
Because there are signs on the door asking for people not to post things through the door.

We have a "No circulars or canvessers" sign and also a "No Cold Selling" sign on the front door.

We have a 'private' sign on our property which people blithely ignore too.
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people posting junk mail are told to go to every house, let's face it nobody really wants what they are posting .....but it's a job and no one doing it should be bitten.
 
Of course it is a job, can't see anywhere where I said it wasn't a job...I do actually like to receive the Dominos flyers with the special offer vouchers - but I digress, when I see a sign I tend to abide by what the sign says - had the boy done this, he would not have been bitten, if indeed he was bitten.
 
bonny said:
people posting junk mail are told to go to every house, let's face it nobody really wants what they are posting .....but it's a job and no one doing it should be bitten.
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They are ignoring strict instructions given by the owner of the private property. In a sensible world, most people would take heed and avoid, sadly common sense seems to be lacking in this country.
 
I can't put a box on the door as it opens into a porch area and you wouldn't be able to open the front door properly.

The Royal Mail train their postmen to avoid putting their hand through the letterbox. Shouldn't the junk mail people provide similar safety training?

Looking on the internet since posting this question, it seems that if the dogs are in a secure property and not running loose - then it's the poster's fault for putting their hand through the door and they can't do much more than moan and threaten to sue through the civil courts.

I've just bought a warning sign for the letterbox and I'll pick up an external postbox when I get paid.
 
blazingsaddles said:
They are ignoring strict instructions given by the owner of the private property. In a sensible world, most people would take heed and avoid, sadly common sense seems to be lacking in this country.
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It's their job to deliver to every house in a given street
 
bonny said:
It's their job to deliver to every house in a given street
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even if they have to disregard a no entry, private, no trespassers type sign? I think they should keep off land they are told to keep off, regardless.

What about an external post box OP? ETA Oh just re-read you are doing :)
 
Cedars said:
Yes, I certainly think you can, and should, get in trouble.
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Slight over-reaction?
eh.gif


In case you may not know, I am a little raw still.

Our neighbour sent the dog wardens round recently under the guise of excessive noise. It was a spiteful call, that all the other neighbours thought was ridiculous and the wardens found no reason to uphold the complaint.

However, it caused me a large amount of stress at the time and I'm just getting over that.

But thank you anyway.....
 
bonny said:
It's their job to deliver to every house in a given street
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If their boss told them to deliver junk mail at No 10, sense would hopefully prevail and they would ignore their bosses instructions. The OP has a sign clearly stating no canvessors or circulars - what her reasons are for that sign should be by the by. Her notice was ignored by an idiot and he learnt the hard way. Such is life.
 
CaveCanem said:
Oh with the warning sign you might leave yourself liable....crazy, I know, but there you are.....
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I thought about that. But there was no warning, no barking. I imagine the dog was as surprised as the deliverer.

I'd prefer to let people know there are dogs in the property in future. Then, at least, they can know the risk of putting their hand through my door.

This is them - waiting to assault unsuspecting people....
doorwaydogs.jpg
 
blazingsaddles said:
If their boss told them to deliver junk mail at No 10, sense would hopefully prevail and they would ignore their bosses instructions. The OP has a sign clearly stating no canvessors or circulars - what her reasons are for that sign should be by the by. Her notice was ignored by an idiot and he learnt the hard way. Such is life.
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First he was a moron, now an idiot....
Do you know how many houses have those signs ? They are ignored, both by postmen and by people posting flyers. Defeats me why companies still send them out but I guess some of the advertising must work. Still think it's a thankless task, they are paid not very much to be out in all weathers, delivering things no one wants and then some of you think it's his fault for being bitten !
 
We have:

An external post box in front of the garden gate. We expect people to use it instead of opening the gate, which people seem incapable of closing, and using the letter box.

A letter box

A baby gate between the front door and the rest of the kitchen. The space between the gate and letter box is about the same as in the picture above. The postman knows there is a baby gate and is quite happy to poke parcels through the cat flap knowing that the dogs can't get to him.


* You can ask to be blacklisted by junk mail deliverers/people trying to sell things. We were so fed up of them ignoring the very clear no junk mail signs ect that we got our old house blacklisted. Never had a problem after that. Now we live in a small village we don't get the same amount of useless junk through the door.
 
Ok, here it is - there was a sign, the guy ignored it, he may have been bitten. Had he adhered to it, he would not have been bitten. His job or wage packet is immaterial.
Seems simple to me.
 
bonny said:
First he was a moron, now an idiot....
Do you know how many houses have those signs ? They are ignored, both by postmen and by people posting flyers. Defeats me why companies still send them out but I guess some of the advertising must work. Still think it's a thankless task, they are paid not very much to be out in all weathers, delivering things no one wants and then some of you think it's his fault for being bitten !
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Well would you rather people said he was illiterate? Signs are there for a reason, you choose to disregard them at your own risk.

* Those sign aren't there for the postman.
 
We had a similar issue . . . we nicknamed Freddie "Fred the Shred" b/c he kept attacking the letterbox and shredding the post. At our old house, the postman knew and would wait for me to come to the window in the porch and hand the post to me. Now that we've moved, the configuration is different . . . so we've put a covered bucket (a Badminton Horse Treats bucket as it happens) by the back gate and a sign taped TO the letterbox saying "Please Put Post in the Bucket." Works a treat. We haven't admitted any liability by adding "or you may lose some fingers . . . " and Freddie now no longer feels threatened by someone approaching the house.

Good luck with this.

P
 
I seem to remember reading of a similar case and because there were 2 dogs the guilty dog couldnt be indentified. Also I wonder how fierce your letter box is as when I was delivering some Xmas cards to a friends the recoil on her box nearly took some fingers off.:mad:
 
Oh dear, the great letter debate:)

They should obs not post if it clearly states no leaflet, junk or canvassers or whatever folk have on doors:p
I do think it's sensible to get a mesh box put on the door for the mail to fall in incase as suggested some crazy rule somewhere sees you/your dog in bother.
Im not sure why a whole hand needs to enter the letter box:confused: surely just post the tip and let the dog pull the rest in:D

None of mine are mail grabbers lol, but I do have this sign

NIGHT SHIFT WORKER DO NOT KNOCK OR POST THINGS OTHER THEN PERSONAL MAIL THROUGH THIS DOOR I AM ASLEEP, CALL IF IT'S URGENT AND LEAVE A MESSAGE :D

Me being woken up is far worse than any dog bite;):D
 
Our lab x was dreadful when mail came through, I think it would have been impossible for him to bite. Anyway the Royal Mail said they wouldn't deliver unless we put up an external postbox, which is what we had to do. So an external post box could be a possibility, or it looks as though you put a safety gate in the doorway before your front door
 
Private land so you won't get in trouble - I'm a postie and know they're trying to get a law passed at the moment. I was bitten on the arm a couple of months ago and on public path so could of got the owner in a lot of trouble (luckily owner was very apologetic and now puts a muzzle on it) another guy lost his finger tip through a letterbox about the same time and had no comeback whatsoever (the woman did take him to hospital with the finger tip in a tea towel though :()
 
With regard fliers / junk mail we have to deliver them to every address unless people have opted out, their address will be on the form that we are given with them. You can opt out on the Royal mail website although haven't looked myself. They're called door to door :)
I must just add that if I see a note saying no junk mail I dont deliver them but that obviously doesn't stop other companies.
By the way if a dog snatches mail as it's put through the letterbox your hand goes with it, sounds ridiculous but it's a split second thing and by the time you think 'poo- let go' it's often to late :)
 
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