Royal Mail boycotts street after dog attack leaves postman needing plastic surgery

Royal Mail have boycotted a residential street one week before Christmas - after a savage dog attack left a postman needing plastic surgery.

Local postie Jason Lee, 42, was left with a four inch gaping wound on his right arm and required stitches in his buttock after a Bullmastiff pinned him to the ground and 'tore chunks’ out of him on his daily round in Meltham, West Yorkshire.

After undergoing plastic surgery to repair his arm injuries, he took nine months off work to recover - but cannot press charges because the attack happened on private property.

Jason, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, who's been a posting parcels and letters for 20 years, said: ‘I knew about this dog and I’d been wary of it before because it looked dangerous and acted aggressively.

‘I remember looking through into the living room where the dog’s owner was and he was just lying on his sofa, relaxing.

‘Then, as soon as I approached the door I saw this gigantic dog come around the corner and it just came flying towards my head.

‘It wrestled with me and pinned me down on the floor and it was so big and strong that I couldn’t move at all while it was tearing chunks out of me.

‘I then felt the teeth sink into my buttock and I started shouting for help. It was the most painful thing that’s ever happened to me.’

Jason recounted how he was able to ‘run to safety’ after the owner of the dog came to his aid.

He added: ‘It all happened so quickly that I didn’t even get a chance to think about what was happening.

‘I just thought that this was the end and I wasn’t going to survive.’

After the attack, on July 9 2013, postal services were suspended for a time.

Now, Royal Mail have decided to suspended deliveries to houses in the area because  the savage dog has been spotted prowling around the road again.

Resulting in Royal Mail refusing to deliver any letters or parcels until they have been assured the dog will be kept securely at home.

This leaves residents in Copley Avenue, Meltham, West Yorkshire, forced to trek to their local Post Office almost a mile away.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We have temporarily suspended deliveries to a number of addresses in Meltham, due to the threat of a dangerous dog being kept at a property being loose on the road.

‘This dog has previously attacked a postman, leaving him with serious injuries, and is not currently being kept securely at the address.

‘We have asked the dog owner to take the necessary steps to ensure the dog is kept securely within grounds of the property and is not able to roam free. We want to restore services to customers as soon as possible and will do so when as soon as this is addressed.’

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Mr Lee now covers a different route and wants the owner to be prosecuted and the dog to be destroyed.

He added: ‘I’m a dog-lover myself, but this owner is totally irresponsible and I can’t believe that the animal is still out there.’

Bullmastiffs are a known to be strong, powerful but sensitive dogs. And it is said for the breed tobecome a well-behaved family member, consistency is needed - training socialising is of high importance as the breed can be 'independent'.