Street shocks will always be a problem, Hydro says

Generally people wear shoes and that saves them from being zapped -- but somehow it seems odd that live electric plates cannot be somehow eliminated:

Street shocks will always be a problem, Hydro says
Lesley Ciarula Taylor Staff reporter

Electric shocks from live handwells and hydro wires are "going to be a problem forever," a Toronto Hydro spokeswoman said Wednesday.

While an incident Monday involving a dog in Riverdale was "unique," the problem itself is never going away, said Tanya Bruckmueller.

Schroeder, a 5-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever, was zapped by contact with an old street-light wire buried under asphalt and cement on Danforth Ave. near Jones Ave. The dog collapsed and convulsed before being pulled to safety.

"We've made sure the wire is completely disconnected and removed, and we're going to put another pole there," said Bruckmueller.

A dog was killed in November 2008 near a light pole around Keele and Annette Sts.; another was electrocuted after stepping on a live metal sidewalk plate last January.

Pet owners in Liberty Village and Yorkville have also reported that their dogs had been shocked, although less severely, by live wires or handwells. (Handwells are the metal covers in the sidewalk that provide crews access to utilities.)

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/747316--street-shocks-will-always-be-a-problem-hydro-says