Although Chunghwa Post introduced a rule more than three years ago allowing it to refuse delivery service to addresses where employees have been attacked by dogs, it has not actually blocked anyone, triggering doubts over its willingness to protect postal workers.
The “biting dog clause” has not been enforced, because the company “would rather sacrifice its employees than offend customers,” one postman said on condition of anonymity.
The firm said that in the past about 500 employees were bitten annually, but the numbers have dropped in the past two years.
Photo courtesy of Chunghwa Post Co
Most such incidents have been settled through private compensation deals between the dog owners and postal workers, but there have been cases where owners have refused to take responsibility for their dog’s actions.
For example, a Tainan postman surnamed Huang (黃), who used a stick to defend himself against a dog that was becoming increasingly aggressive, was beaten by the dog’s owner, a man surnamed Yun (雲).
One owner in Taichung refused to compensate a postal worker surnamed Hsu (許), who was bitten by a dog on the home’s veranda on the grounds that he had entered the dog’s territory, but a court later required the owner to pay Hsu about NT$15,000.
The clause stipulates that owners who fail to control their dogs are to be warned after the first attack, and can be blacklisted if there is another incident.
Company statistics showed a drop in the number of dog attacks reported in the past two years, it has yet to blacklist an owner.
If a resident complains twice about not receiving mail, Chunghwa Post asks workers to resume deliveries to the the address, an employee said.
Employees have been told to carry dog treats and tennis rackets to defend themselves, but they are ineffective, he said.
Some owners would rather pay NT$10,000 compensation than try to protect the workers, he said.
Chunghwa Post associate manager Kuo Chun-yang (郭純陽) said taking legal action against a dog’s owner is a last resort.
While more than 300 postal workers have been bitten in the past two years, none were serious bites, so the company did not consider it necessary to blacklist any of the owners, he said.
The firm would not hesitate to protect its employees if they are disrespected or attacked, he said.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
RSS