Postmen bite back at dog owners

By Wu Chen (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-17 05:56

Every postman in Switzerland is issued with a pamphlet on how to deal with dogs and new recruits receive special training on dealing with dogs. However, no such instruction is offered to their Chinese counterparts.

Gao Weidong, chairman of the trade union of Beijing Post Bureau, said the union had held meetings to warn postmen of the danger and told them to be on their guard when delivering mail. "We are not specialists in this field and it's difficult for us to tell them how to prevent an attack," Gao said.

Dog owners are legally obliged to ensure victims of their pets are sent to hospital immediately and to pay for the medical expenses. Unlicensed dogs are impounded and the owners fined up to 5,000 yuan (US$616).

Gao said postmen could refuse to deliver mail to houses with dangerous dogs until their safety is assured. Others who have never been bitten also fear dogs.

Yu Weidong, 49, always has at least 10 dogs barking around him on his 20-minute delivery run to about 15 households.

In front of one home, Yu pointed to three dogs yapping at him and said loudly: "Get away!"

The warning sparked a protest from the middle-aged woman owner: "Stop doing that. They didn't mean to attack you. You frightened them."

Yu said: "See? They only care about the dogs, not about whether their beloved pets bother other people."

Yu refused to blame the animals.

"After all, they are animals and it's natural for them to protect their owners," he said.

Yu said the owners should watch their dogs carefully, and keep them leashed in accordance with regulations issued in 1994 to govern pet ownership, Yu said.

Tan Xu agreed, saying the owners were responsible for controlling their pets. "Many people are unsuited to raising dogs. They even can't take good care of themselves," Tan said.

He said regulations on the behaviour of dog owners were rarely enforced.

"It's impossible for the public security bureau to check the dogs all day long," Tan said.

According to the Beijing Public Security Bureau, the city has 550,000 registered dogs, but the number of unlicensed animals is unknown.

About 70,000 people were injured by dogs in the first half of the year, according to local health authorities.

Although everyone who reported being bitten by a dog in Beijing was vaccinated against rabies and none developed the disease, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, the experience still left physical and psychological injuries.


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