John Gibson: The posties will get a better deal

By JOHN GIBSON
Published on 16/02/2012 12:05

Bites yer bum. But postmen should take heart. Dog owners whose pets bite the mail man won’t be getting away with it now. Under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act there was no legal redress for people attacked by a dog on their own property.

But plans are afoot for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to make it an offence for owners who don’t control their animals within their house or garden.

Welcome news for the Communications Workers Union, who reckon 5000 postal workers and 400 telecom engineers are attacked each year. Owners and muzzles will be coming to a court near you.

On my milk round I knew a self-taught mongrel that licked the cardboard top off the bottle and lapped up the cream while I nipped up the tenement stairs with the as-new bottles. For a couple of winters this was the happiest, and fattest, mongrel in Leith. And never bit anybody. Good dog.

Charm offensive

Nobody would sing “for he’s a jolly good fellow” of Fabio Capello. Totally charmless. One wonders how he was considered for manager of England’s football wizards. So arrogant, it’s alleged, he couldn’t be bothered to learn English.

Harry Redknapp? You couldn’t wish for a finer fellow, if we have to make the comparison. Can barely write like a child, Harry’s saying, and see where it’s got him.