A LONG serving Bradford councilor has issued a warning after she suffered injuries to her hand when she was attacked by a dog through a letterbox.

Cllr Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) was posting leaflets in her constituency when a dog latched on to three of her fingers through a letterbox.

"It locked on to my fingers and I had to pull back. I had blood running down to my elbow."

She said she was rescued by neighbours but the wounds required medical treatment. 

She rang Idle Medical Centre and was seen by her GP straight away.

Cllr Sunderland said that because the wound was a dog bite, doctors tend to want to administer stitches to avoid further infection.

"They told me to leave it, keep it dry and take antibiotics."

A LONG-serving Bradford councillor has issued a warning after she suffered injuries to her hand when she was attacked by a dog through a letterbox.

Cllr Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) was posting leaflets in her constituency when a dog latched on to three of her fingers when she posted a leaflet through a letterbox.

"It locked on to my fingers and I had to pull back. I had blood running down to my elbow.

She said she was rescued by neighbours but the wounds required medical treatment. 

She rang Idle Medical Centre and was seen by her GP straight away.

Cllr Sunderland said that because the wound was a dog bite, doctors tend to want to administer stitches to avoid further infection.

"They told me to leave it, keep it dry and take antibiotics."

Cllr Sunderland, who said she has been unable to drive since the incident, thanked people who have been helping her.

"I'm doing ok because I'm getting lots of sympathy and help."

Cllr Sunderland has filed a police report, and she said they are dealing with the incident.

"If I didn't file a report, I'd never forgive myself if it jumped over a fence and bit a child."

She also issued a warning to dog owners.

"There needs to be a little care and thought from dog owners," she said. "Please make sure you have a cage behind a letterbox because you don't always know what you're dog is doing."

She said: "This is a massive issue for the post office and people who deliver letters through letterboxes."

She said postal unions have dealt with dog issues for some time.

According to a recent survey by mailing company bakergoodchild, safety was a big issue amongst postal workers.

Fifty-three per cent of postal workers cited that they regularly get a hard time from dogs, and when we asked 62 per cent of posties expressed that they often felt unsafe on their regular route.

Dog owners were also asked what their dogs think of their post person, and just under half said that their dogs do not like their postie and might attack them given the chance.

Last year there were 33 dog attacks on mail carriers every week in the UK or 1,690 over the whole year.

Although the figures are shocking, with the increase in contactless deliveries, dog attacks were actually down by a third from 2019.

Cllr Sunderland, who said she has been unable to drive since the incident, thanked people who have been helping her.

"I'm doing ok because I'm getting lots of sympathy and help."

Cllr Sunderland has filed a police report, and she said they are dealing with the incident.

"If I didn't file a report, I'd never forgive myself if it jumped over a fence and bit a child."

She also issued a warning to dog owners.

"There needs to be a little care and thought from dog owners," she said. "Please make sure you have a cage behind a letterbox because you don't always know what you're dog is doing."

She said: "This is a massive issue for the post office and people who deliver letters through letterboxes."

She said postal unions have dealt with dog issues for some time.

According to a recent survey by mailing company bakergoodchild, safety was a big issue amongst postal workers.

Fifty-three per cent of postal workers cited that they regularly get a hard time from dogs, and when we asked 62 per cent of posties expressed that they often felt unsafe on their regular route.

Dog owners were also asked what their dogs think of their post person, and just under half said that their dogs do not like their postie and might attack them given the chance.

Last year there were 33 dog attacks on mail carriers every week in the UK or 1,690 over the whole year.

Although the figures are shocking, with the increase in contactless deliveries, dog attacks were actually down by a third from 2019.