[Imihooniump]

I received some very disturbing news last night from a neighbor and fellow APT owner.

As per the doctor's orders, I have increased Villa's exercise and walking regimen to work out that pulled muscle he's been suffering from. While I was out last night, I learned that my neighbor's APT was rushed to the vet yesterday afternoon after being near electrocuted on the main intersection of our town! My neighbor said there were no exposed wires or anything where they were walking and couldn't figure out how it happened. So I started to do some research.

I found out that this thing called "Contact Voltage" is probably what sent his dog to the vet. Contact Voltage is caused by aged electric wires that send currents of electricity through the ground and they end up charging all kinds of things like sidewalks and streetlights. Dogs and people have been killed by this "Contact Voltage"!!

I want to try and get more involved in preventing this from happening again. This organization:

CVIC | CONTACT VOLTAGE INFORMATION CENTER

seems to have a pretty good handle on where to go for help so I am going to start there.

I know we all love our APTs and would never want what happened to my neighbor to happen to us. Let's try to get something going here. APTs are already criminalized enough, we don't need something else to kill them on the street.

PitBullsEye

[exchpaypalgold]

Wow, that's crazy.

[Peabelilt]

It's APBT ** not APT . But that really sucks hope the dog is ok

[dodsCooggipsedebt]

This actually happened to a dog I was fostering 2 years ago. We were walking and she seized up and was shaking on a corner down my street. She had some fear issues left over from previous owners, so I thought she was reacting to passing cars. I reached down to hold her, felt a shock and she snapped at me. I ended up pulling her into a yard and she was very shaken. My vet determined that she had received a severe electric shock ans she was treated. Our vet alerted the fire department and crews came and fortunately fixed the problem. I later learned that the sme thing had happened to a neighbor with a child as well.

I had all but forgotten about the incident so thank you PBEye for the good info!

[Keyclenef]

It's APBT ** not APT . But that really sucks hope the dog is ok

That's what I was going to point out... APT = apartment. LOL

[dodsCooggipsedebt]

PBEYE: A Pittie was shocked earlier this year in Nashua NH. Careful where you walk you dogs!http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/...og-zapped.html

[JulietOreira]

thats crazy. never heard of anything like it.

[Ervins Dervish]

This thread got me thinking about how to prevent getting a dog hurt from a danger you can't clearly see. Rubber soled walking boots! I bet more people would be getting shocked if it weren't for their shoes insulating them from the charge. If you're worried about it for a dog, I'd say do the same thing and put the pupper in shoes with rubber soles.

[loyalgagora]

This is something that is very real. There is a local dog park that was built near a power sub station. Recently a lot of dogs and owners have been getting shocked just walking in to the park. Recently a couple of dogs got sent to the E Vet over it. And I think one owner was sent to the ER. However the power company has come out and deemed the place totally safe. I guess so they don't get sued. But if the place was totally safe why do people and dogs keep getting hurt there?

[FLOMOUSLY]

This is something that is very real. There is a local dog park that was built near a power sub station. Recently a lot of dogs and owners have been getting shocked just walking in to the park. Recently a couple of dogs got sent to the E Vet over it. And I think one owner was sent to the ER. However the power company has come out and deemed the place totally safe. I guess so they don't get sued. But if the place was totally safe why do people and dogs keep getting hurt there?

Declaring a place to be safe that quite clearly isn't safe should just open them to more lawsuits. If anything, they are more liable and subject to more penalties by being so negligent.

[loyalgagora]

Declaring a place to be safe that quite clearly isn't safe should just open them to more lawsuits. If anything, they are more liable and subject to more penalties by being so negligent.

Yeah I'm not sure where exactly this park is but its local. The community its in is not letting it go. They want to keep the dog park but they want it moved. And this local reporter has reported on it a few times. Its keeps coming back up so something will be done about it. Its not so much the electric company at fault, its the city for building it there. I guess it could be both though because obviously something is wrong there. So honestly I guess the city is at most risk for getting sued.

I believe the city is willing to tear it down but not willing to rebuild it elsewhere. So they can either have a dangerous dog park, or no dog park at all. And that is where the bigger issue is coming it. And that is when they had the electric company come out twice and have it evaluated and they claim there is no way that those injuries were caused by electric shock. But why does it keep happening? Obviously something is wrong there.

[Imihooniump]

From what I understand, the issue is with the wires underground that are deteriorated/damaged, so that makes me think the electric companies are the ones who are responsible. How would the city know there is an electric issue unless the electric company found and reported it? I assume they should have the methods to detect the problems. In any case, it's great that your community is reacting to the problem and trying to prevent shocks from happening again! I definitely agree that more law suits would probably create enough buzz that the incidents wouldn't be as common because the companies would be more inclined to search for and correct the issues.

The organization's website has some videos tracing news coverage in different cities; so if one of them is near you it'd be a great opportunity to get involved and try to address the problem with the government and electric companies. My neighborhood dog walking club is looking for a way to get involved as well.

[leangarance]

Someone posted here about this matter before. Such a scary thing.

[Imihooniump]

APBT* my bad. New dog owner, remember...haha. Villa & I have been more careful on our walks because of this contact voltage thing, I just don't want any accidents. The above mentioned org has a Facebook and Twitter I've been following, so hoping to continue learning about dog health in general to make sure Villa is around as long as possible. SAfe walking to you all!