Chief Reporter
Almost 200 postmen and women were attacked by dogs while delivering mail in the Westcountry in the space of 12 months, new figures show.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said although the 191 attacks between April 2011 and April 2012 had fallen, incidents remained unacceptably high.
The union and the Royal Mail have appealed to dog owners in Devon and Cornwall to keep animals under control during the school holidays when attacks normally increase.
Senol Ali, safety director for Royal Mail in Exeter, said: "Clearly most dogs are not inherently dangerous, however, even the most placid animal can be prone to attack if it feels its territory is being threatened.
"We would like to express our thanks to our customers for working with us to help reduce the number of attacks since 2010, now we want to reduce this number further as there are still too many attacks taking place.
"Our first priority as an employer is to ensure the welfare and safety of our people who provide a valuable service to our customers and we regularly provide advice to our people to help minimise the risk of an attack and have spent over £100,000 on awareness campaigns and equipment to help reduce the risk of injury.
"However, even just being threatened by an unrestrained pet is a frightening situation for our delivery staff and we would appeal to owners to keep their pets under control, especially if they know their pets have a territorial nature."
Figures showed that postal workers were attacked 38 times by dogs across the EX postcode, 33% down on the previous year.
In the PL postcode area, incidents also fell by 33% to 61 and by 24% in TQ postcodes to 32. There were 60 incidents in Cornwall at addresses with a TR postcode, a fall of 15%.
The Royal Mail has invested in 90,000 "posting pegs" to postmen and women, devices which help push letters through boxes whilst protecting their fingers.
Later in the year, leaflets highlighting the risks of dog attacks with be delivered in six areas, including Truro.
Dave Joyce, CWU health and safety officer, said: "The age- old image of the dog attacking the postman is not a laughing matter.
"Thousands of our members are bitten every year and hundreds suffer debilitating injuries every year which leave them with physical and psychological scarring, some with life changing disabilities and all in the course of doing their job.
"Prevention is always better than the cure when it comes to dog attacks so we hope that all dog owners will take a moment to check where their pet is, especially over the summer holidays when attacks increase."