Poor Newport East candidate Paul Halliday. Like many valiant activists before him, he found a dog on the other end of his finger when delivering leaflets and had to make an unscheduled dash to A & E.
The South Wales Argus has the story:
The Newport East candidate for Thursday’s General Election was making his way down Trostrey Street just off Caerleon Road near Maindee when he met with the hostile reception.
He tried to push some Lib Dem literature through a letterbox but said: “Unbeknown to me there was a dog on the other side which decided to chomp down.
“It was large and didn’t make a sound until it grabbed my finger and started to do a deep growl. I wasn’t sure I was going to get my hand out.”
Speaking to the Argus while waiting at the Royal Gwent Hospital, he said: “It’s quite painful. I’m hoping I won’t be here too long because I want to get back out delivering and campaigning.”
He was bravely back out at a hustings later:
He said the dog injury would not stop him attending a hustings later on that day at the student union bar at the University of South Wales’ Caerleon Campus.
“It was bleeding a lot,’ he said. “It was not fun, I have to say. It sounds silly but at first I worried I wouldn’t get my finger back. I was scared at the time.”He said he ripped his hand backwards after feeling teeth, and the brute force was strong enough to tear off a chunk of skin.
Paul is certainly not the first to have a close encounter with canine teeth in pursuit of liberal democracy. We do ask unreasonable things of ourselves in the pursuit of winning elections. People put their lives on hold to campaign for what they believe in.
Tell us in the comments if you know of anyone else who has suffered injury in the line of party duty so that we can all give them some sympathy.
I think all activists who have been tramping the streets or lighting up the phone lines deserve massive congratulations. What you have achieved in the last couple of years has been incredible. There’s only one very long day ahead of us tomorrow. Let’s make the most of it.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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8 Comments
A common problem for deliverers, including postmen. Support Royal Mail’s campaign:
http://www.royalmailgroup.com/biting-back-against-dog-attacks-mps-support-royal-mail%E2%80%99s-dog-awareness-week
This is now an actionable lapse by the owner
http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/changes-to-the-dangerous-dogs-act-2014-what-all-dog-owners-need-to-know.html
I recommend that every incident be reported to the police, although it might be best to wait until Friday 🙂
I had a letterbox the other day which had a nail sticking down out of the top to scratch any and all inserted hands, including mine.
I use a ruler to push leaflets through
One of our marvellous campaigners and former Borough councillors here in Reading carries a wooden spoon (the Spoon of Liberalism, no less) which she uses to encourage deliveries past dogs, over-sprung interior flaps, and the never-to-be-sufficiently-damned letterbox brushes.
I still have the puncture marks on my arm from a dog bite when delivering for Paul Burstow in 2001 – I was holding the leaflet, and trying to get past the dog and owner on the narrow pavement. I raised my arm to get past, and the dog immediately jumped up and bit it – the owner then had the cheek to say “well, you shouldn’t have been waving the leaflet about”! I did report it to the police the next day (after colleagues at work said I should) but it was more to record the incident rather than get anything done about it.
I support Royal Mail’s campaign.
I know the feeling. I now use a wooden spatula to push leaflets through the letter box which is also helpful if there are stiff brushes. I also have a loop of string on the handle which can help getting the spatula out of a dogs teeth. This is not always successful, so I always carry a spare.