Plea to dog owners after delivery driver attacked
Heather ShepherdA delivery driver has urged dog owners to take control of their pets after she was attacked while making a delivery.
Heather Shepherd, 33, said she suffered "incredibly painful" deep-tissue damage when she was bitten by a dog while making a delivery to a property in Kendal on 9 May.
Shepherd, who has been a courier for seven years, said she was now "terrified of an animal she once loved", adding the attack had "really affected her physiologically".
Cumbria Police said it was investigating after a delivery driver was bitten on the leg by a terrier-type dog while delivering to a house in Windermere Road, Kendal between 12:00 and 13:00 BST.
Shepherd said had previously had a "few nips and scrapes" from dogs, but no attacks, despite her many years working as a courier.
The attack on Saturday 9 May occurred when she went through a gate in order to take the package to the front door.
"I have visited the house many times on previous rounds and thought the dog was friendly," she said.
"There was no sign warning me of two dogs being loose."
She said the front door was "slightly open" but she could not see the dogs as she approached the property, and so "went in through the gate as normal".
After Shepherd had left the parcel at the door, she felt a bite on the back of her leg from one dog, before the animal began to fight with another dog.
Heather Shepherd"I got out of there as quick as I could.
"When I got back to the car, that's when my leg started throbbing.
"I rolled my trousers up and saw a lump which was rock-solid and incredibly painful.
Shepherd described the pain as "intense".
"I had to go to hospital to get a tetanus shot and antibiotics because they told me it was getting infected.
Shepherd said she was told she had deep-tissue damage to her muscle, adding the dog's aggressive response had "really affected her physiologically".
"The majority of dogs on my round are really lovely, but because this has happened it has put a huge amount of doubt in my head.
"A lot of couriers don't mind seeing your dog - but seeing it bound through your door - we don't know what we're going to get."
She asked homeowners to keep their dogs in their homes when answering the door, and to think about enclosed areas which the courier has to walk through to access the property.
"Please make it possible for couriers to do their job - another suggestion would be a parcel box on the outside gate," she said.
