Royal Mail investigates after postman is caught on camera kicking a blind shih tzu that later died
A Buckinghamshire family has been left devastated after their 11-year-old shih tzu, Ethel, had to be put down following an incident with a delivery driver. The dog’s owner, Eve Lewis, captured footage on her Ring doorbell camera showing a Royal Mail postman wearing an England shirt kicking the elderly, partially blind dog in the driveway of her home in Aylesbury last Saturday.
Ethel, who was partially blind and had only one tooth, sustained severe internal injuries from the impact and later suffered organ failure at the veterinary clinic.
According to Lewis, a 40-year-old NHS worker, the incident occurred immediately after the postman delivered a parcel to her home. “The driver was walking away and still made the effort to turn around and kick her,” Lewis recalled. “He didn’t just kick her, he toe-punted her like she was a football. She flew up in the air and hit the ground and rolled three times.”
Realizing the severity of the situation, Lewis rushed the small dog to the vets, where Ethel’s condition quickly deteriorated. “Her blood pressure dropped and they put tubes up her nose. Then they said there’s internal bleeding,” Lewis said. “I went home overnight, but when I came back to the vets’ in the morning, she was pretty much already out of it.” Due to the extent of the internal bleeding and organ failure, vets determined that the dog could not be saved and she was put down.
The loss has deeply affected Lewis’s family, which includes her five-year-old son and another dog, a French bulldog named Stanley. Given Ethel’s age, partial blindness, and lack of teeth, Lewis emphasized that the dog posed absolutely no threat to the delivery driver and could not have been mistaken for a dangerous animal.
In response to the incident, Royal Mail released a statement confirming that an internal investigation is currently underway. The postal service expressed regret over the situation, stating that they will take “appropriate action” once the inquiry is complete. Additionally, Royal Mail has confirmed that they will cover all veterinary costs incurred by the family.
The footage of the incident has since been handed over to the authorities as the family seeks accountability for the unprovoked attack on their pet.
