Most news about the Royal Mail recently has been grave and serious. However, one piece of news has not failed to grab the media’s attention. Yes, the story of how a postman has refused to deliver post through a home’s letterbox because of a cat has been making the headlines. Well maybe not the main headlines…
The postman, Andrew Goater, had his hand swiped by a mischievous cat as he put his hand through the letterbox. After being scratched, the wounded postman had to the local hospital in Portsmouth to get a TB jab. Mr Goater now knocks on the door when he gets to the home of Carl and Carol White, who own the cat, nicknamed “Lana Banana. The family have been told that they could even be blacklisted from receiving post if the problem repeats itself.
Mr White, a cleaner at Portsmouth Dockyard, said: ‘This was the first time she had done anything like that and she’s not done anything like it since. I think it’s a bit much to say they might take us off the mailing list if it happens again.’
Mr Goater said,”normally you hear about postmen being attacked by the dog but this cat just came out of nowhere,’ he said . ‘It was a really vicious scratch.”
The Royal Mail has stated that its employees have reported over 5,000 animal attacks in the last year and that it has a responsibility to its workers to treat every case seriously.