Overview
- Ring doorbell footage from Saturday, July 11, appears to show a Royal Mail delivery worker kicking an 11-year-old partially blind Shih Tzu named Ethel outside a home in Aylesbury.
- Veterinary staff found irreversible brain damage and organ failure consistent with blunt force trauma and the owner elected to have Ethel put down after emergency treatment failed.
- Royal Mail says it has suspended the delivery worker, launched a full internal investigation and has agreed to cover the family’s veterinary bills while enquiries continue.
- Thames Valley Police confirmed officers are conducting enquiries and safeguarding measures related to the incident and that no arrests have been made so far.
- The widely shared footage has intensified public scrutiny and could prompt criminal charges for causing unnecessary suffering, an offence that can carry up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.