{"id":329441,"date":"2023-03-02T17:59:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T07:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=329441"},"modified":"2023-03-02T18:03:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T08:03:40","slug":"meter-readers-face-dogs-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/02\/meter-readers-face-dogs-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Meter Readers Face Dogs, Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Ergon Energy employees suffered these dog bites\u00a0 (Photos: Ergon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 2, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ergon is appealing to residents to be more understanding if meter readers refuse to enter a property for safety reasons.<\/p>\n

“Earlier this year a meter reader was tragically killed after a dog attack in south-east Queensland,”\u00a0Ergon’s General Manager of Customer Operations Cloe Kernick said.<\/p>\n

“Ergon meter readers and field crews are required to assess the safety risks before entering properties to do work for customers and if they cannot see that dogs are suitably restrained, they will not enter.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite heightened awareness around safe entry, unfortunately we are still seeing incidents where dogs have been able to escape and pose a threat to our people and others in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn January, a Townsville meter reader was left shaken, but thankfully unscathed, after two dogs were able to burst through the front gate.<\/p>\n

\u201cDogs aren\u2019t the only threat. Our crews are also copping abuse from customers whose properties they won\u2019t enter for safety reasons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no excuse for abuse, and we will not enter properties where meter readers or crews have been verbally or physically threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ergon\u2019s Customer Self Service portal<\/a><\/strong> is a resource for dog owners or anyone with ongoing meter access issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cCustomers can submit online self-meter reads, register for free SMS and email notifications the day before their scheduled meter read, and update their dog details so that we are aware of any changes at their property,” Ms Kernick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInformation provided by customers helps us make an assessment on whether it\u2019s safe to enter a property, so it\u2019s important that these details are accurate.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafety is everyone\u2019s business and we appreciate the community\u2019s support.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ergon is appealing to residents to be more understanding if meter readers refuse to enter a property for safety reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":329446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,3],"tags":[32],"yoast_head":"\nMeter Readers Face Dogs, Abuse - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ergon is appealing to residents to be more understanding if meter readers refuse to enter a property for safety reasons.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/02\/meter-readers-face-dogs-abuse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meter Readers Face Dogs, Abuse - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ergon is appealing to residents to be more understanding if meter readers refuse to enter a property for safety reasons.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/02\/meter-readers-face-dogs-abuse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-02T07:59:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-02T08:03:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/dogbite3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/02\/meter-readers-face-dogs-abuse\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/02\/meter-readers-face-dogs-abuse\/\",\"name\":\"Meter Readers Face Dogs, Abuse - 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