Danish postmen fight dogs with treats

In 2008, Denmark’s national postal service handed out more than 25 tons of dog treats to its postal workers to help them battle bad dogs intent on taking a bite out of them while delivering the mail. The problem has become a large enough issue that the national postal service is trying out any and all methods to deter angry protective dogs from biting their postmen.

More than 3,000 boxes of doggie treats were given to postal workers last year to try and pacify vicious dogs. This adds up to more than 25 tons of dog food. But it hasn’t been entirely effective. The Copenhagen Post reports that the Animal Protection Society, the Danish Kennel Club, and Post Danmark collaborated in 2008 to come up with a viable solution for dealing with vicious dogs.

They produced a video explaining how best to deal with angry dogs in an effort to educate postal workers who are in the field. But so far, nothing Post Danmark does has made a difference. Last year, 335 postal delivery workers were bitten by dogs, resulting in 45 of them taking extended sick leave as they recuperated. Worse than the time lost, many postal workers are now scared of dogs, which hampers their ability to do their job.

“Dog bites are a big problem. A bite can be similar to many other threats and can give a lifelong fear of coming into contact with dogs. We are taking this very seriously,” a Post Danmark manager said to the Copenhagen Post.