Winston, an American bulldog, must be found a new home by the end of April after owner Hayley Sandiford, of Worcester Road, Blackburn, was taken to a civil court by her landlord, Twin Valley Homes.
Royal Mail deliveries in some parts of Whitebirk had been suspended since February last year after Winston attacked a postman.
The dog had run up to the delivery man, snatched a bundle of letters out of his hand and tried to bite him.
It is alleged that a similar incident happened in December involving another postal worker.
The post to Worcester Road and nearby Surrey Road is now due to resume on May 1 after Miss Sandiford and the housing association reached a settlement at Preston County Court which will see Winston removed.
Miss Sandiford, 29, must rehome the dog by 4pm on April 30 otherwise her tenancy is at risk.
This is called NIMBY = not in my backyard. It's when cities and towns banish a vicious dog into someone else's community. They don't care if this dog attacks someone or kills someone's pet, as long as it's not in their jurisdiction. Typically, the do not require the dog's owner to tell anyone that this dog is coming into a neighborhood. So everyone around where this dog is now living are sitting ducks, unaware that there's a vicious dog now living amongst them.
Residents in the area, some of whom have missed hospital appointments because of lost or late letters, welcomed the news.
However they questioned why the decision had taken too long.
Currently, they have to make a four-and-a-half mile round trip to the Blackburn Delivery Office, in Canterbury Street, if they want to collect their mail.
David King, of Surrey Road, said: “It’s brilliant news if they are going to start up the deliveries again. We’ve waited a long time to get the mail back.
“My wife is disabled and having to go down to the depot every time we get a letter is hugely frustrating. I’m going down today but hopefully it will be one of the last times.
“It’s frustrating that it has taken so long for this to be sorted. We haven’t had much in the way of communication from Royal Mail either, which had added to the problem.”
Trevor Smith, also of Surrey Road, said Royal Mail should offer compensation to customers who had to pay for taxis and buses to collect their mail.
Mr Smith said: “They could have handled it a lot better and sorted it sooner. There are still Royal Mail vans parked at the far end of the street some days.
“I can’t understand why they stopped delivering to so many houses anyway. I’m not happy about it. I’ll believe the deliveries are restarting when I see it.”
Miss Sandiford, a mother-of-two, was given a six-month community order at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court in October after she pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.
The court also ordered that Winston must be accompanied, muzzled, and kept on two leads when in public, while her garden must be securely fenced and adequately locked to prevent the animal from escaping.
Ian Bell, head of Twin Valley Homes, said: “We have had to commit significant resources to try and resolve this problem and we’re delighted to get this result.
“The people in the area have suffered due to a lack of a postal service and being in fear of this dog for too long, but now they can see an end in sight.
“The safety and wellbeing of our tenants is of paramount importance and our staff have worked very hard to get the best outcome for all concerned.”
Under the terms of the settlement, reached before Charles Garside QC last Thursday, Winston must be re-homed to someone who is not a tenant of Together Housing Group, Twin Valley Homes’ parent company.
It is Miss Sandiford’s responsibility to find the dog a new home.
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We are pleased with this outcome. Once the dog has been re-homed, we will resume deliveries to customers with immediate effect.”
(Lancashire Telegraph - April 14, 2015)
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