If you’re a dog owner and you’re about to receive a small brochure from Canada Post in Rivière-du-Loup in the next week, don’t be alarmed. This is not a message implying a personal situation to be corrected, but the result of a national awareness campaign.

With the summer season and good weather approaching, Canada Post is once again appealing to dog owners to remind them that by ensuring a safe environment is provided for mail carriers, they can directly assist in the delivery of mail and packages. In Rivière-du-Loup, as elsewhere, the flyer will be sent to mailboxes in the coming days.

“It’s really a prevention campaign. We fall into a time when dogs are more often outside. And as we get closer to finishing school, there’s more movement between indoors and out with the kids,” said Anne Pelletier, Canada Post office manager in Louperivois.

She insists: the procedure should not be perceived as a reproach. The keyword is awareness. “Our postmen know the houses where there is a dog. Each of them receives a flyer. No owner is particularly targeted,” she said. “Not because they’re bad owners or to slap their wrists.”

According to Louis-Bernard Forgues and Marylène Landry, both members of Canada Post’s local health and safety committee, the goal is also to thank the owners who are already implementing the recommendations and play an important role in keeping the community safe.

“When dogs are kept at a safe distance, they protect us, but they also ensure that nobody who comes to their home, whether it is a supplier or another person, is not in danger,” they underlined .

Mail carriers deal with dogs every day as part of their job and recognize that it is in their nature to protect the entire household. However, deliverers have no way of knowing how a dog will react when they approach an apartment.

Since the pandemic, the number of dog owners has also increased significantly, we note. Incidents involving dogs can range from a menacing encounter to a biting attack. Such situations have already been experienced in Rivière-du-Loup.

“That’s why we want to get dog owners to help us prevent incidents and injuries. […] We want to work in symbiosis with the animals,” according to local conditions.

MEMORIES

Not opening the doors during a delivery and not letting your dog approach a delivery person when they’re walking around the neighborhood are good practices. If a signature is needed, keep the animal in a different room, Canada Post suggests.

Owners are also advised to ensure that the dog is always buckled up and away from the front door or mailbox. We must also avoid releasing them, which increases fear in the neighborhood and at the same time violates the municipal statute in force in Rivière-du-Loup.