Couple left with £500 vet bill after ‘postman kicked the dog’

Witnesses said they heard Daisy the Chihuahua 'screaming in pain'.

A retired couple are demanding an apology from Royal Mail after accusing a postman of kicking their Chihuahua, who needed £500 worth of treatment.

Jack Crespo, 68, and wife Maria, 65, along with two neighbours, claim they saw the postal worker kicking little Daisy so hard that they doubt she’ll ever ‘fully recover’.

The couple, of Epsom, Surrey, said they have written to Royal Mail demanding compensation for Daisy’s injured leg, claiming she can’t walk up the stairs anymore.

Jack said the tiny dog was sitting on their front step as his wife was vacuuming their hallway, before they heard ‘barking and then pitiful yelping’.

He told the Mirror: ‘The postman had kicked our little dog and damaged her leg. She was screaming in pain and unable to hop back on the step.

‘Daisy has never bitten anyone and certainly didn’t deserve to be kicked with such force.

‘I questioned the postman but he denied booting her and said, “You can’t prove it”.

‘Daisy is still limping. I doubt she’ll ever recover totally.’

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Jack, a retired hospital cleaner, knows Daisy, seven, does bark at family members and passers-by but said she is friendly and well-behaved.

‘She’s a pet, not a guard dog. At night she sleeps on the floor near me,’ he added.

‘Now she can’t climb the stairs and sometimes I have to carry her over the front step if I take her for a walk.’

Jack said he is waiting for Royal Mail to acknowledge his complaint.

The couple believe the postman was covering for their usual Royal Mail worker, as they didn’t recognise him and he’s not returned since.

He added: ‘We have no gripes about Daisy from other posties, who are always stroking her.’

A neighbour said she saw the postman ‘lash out’ at the small dog which ‘yelped’.

‘I think what he did, kicking out at a defenceless pet, was excessive,’ she added.

The witness said she made a formal complaint at the local post office, adding: ‘I was just told they had their rules and regulations regarding dogs.’

Royal Mail said it is investigating the complaint, adding: ‘Our postmen and women exercise caution and respect for all family members, including pets.

‘Dogs attack more than 44 of our staff per week. Some suffer permanent, disabling injury.’