How can a postie be scared of me?
Snowball’s ‘attacks’ halt mail deliveries
WITH her huge eyes and pure white face, you’d have thought the biggest problem posed by Snowball was being just too cute.
The postmen of Peterborough, however, disagree – and are refusing to deliver letters to her home because they say the three-year-old cat is a health and safety risk.
Royal Mail claims Snowball has attacked three postmen in recent months, leaving one with ‘quite deep’ cuts to a finger. It has now suspended services because of the ‘unacceptably high’ level of risk.
But Snowball’s supposedly bloodthirsty nature has come as something of a surprise to her owner, Ian Wilkinson.
‘It’s utterly ridiculous. A postman would have to struggle to even poke a hand to the other side of the letterbox,’ he said.
‘Everyone at work thinks it’s hilarious – they have started calling her Ninja Cat and even Photoshopped her holding a Kalashnikov.
‘I have never seen her attack a person. Sometimes she sniffs people’s feet when they come over for dinner – that’s as vicious as she gets.’
The computer analyst first received a warning letter from Royal Mail on November 15 last year stating his pet was a ‘potential hazard’.
It said: ‘Either ensure your cat is kept away from the letterbox or provide an alternative safe delivery point.’ Mr Wilkinson wrote back asking for clarification, but heard nothing until another letter arrived last Thursday.
Delivery office manager Jamie Clarke wrote: ‘At 28/03/12 at 14:30 hours…our delivery officer was trying to deliver a packet to you.
‘When they opened the letterbox your cat clawed out via the letterbox and cut our delivery officers [sic] finger quite deep. This is the third such incident.
‘As a result, it has been found that the level of risk during delivery to the property is unacceptably high.’ Mr Wilkinson, a divorced father of one, said at first he thought the letter was an early April Fool’s joke.
There is a three-inch gap between the outside and inside of his letterbox, which is set a few inches off the ground. Mr Wilkinson argues that a postman should be able to shove mail through without putting himself at risk.
He added: ‘Although I acknowledge that my cat is a very intelligent animal, she is not able to lift up a spring-loaded flap, keep it open, push her paw through a double brush guard and maul an unsuspecting delivery person in the time it takes to deliver a letter.’
But after not receiving any letters for a week, Mr Wilkinson decided to fit a cage around his letterbox, and hopes deliveries can now resume.
A spokesman for Royal Mail said there were 4,000 animal attacks on staff each year.
‘If we feel that there is a risk from any animal we are committed to working with the customer to agree simple steps to ensure that we can deliver the mail safely,’ she added.