Street shocks will always be a problem

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

While a recent incident 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 streetlight 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 Streets; 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.)

Those cases, said Bruckmueller, led to the "ongoing scan" – at a cost of nearly $4 million a year – of possible danger spots. "We've been pretty clear that this is going to be an issue always because of shifting and weather changes," she said, adding in some U.S. locations it's been a problem for many years because of freezing and thawing.

In the Schroeder incident, the site had been checked by Hydro crews the previous week and no voltage was picked up. "But it was dry and cold then. On (that particular) night, it was wet and salty and these are great conductors" of electricity, she said.

Hydro warns people whose pet is hit by electricity to pull the animal away by its leash or collar to avoid a shock. A 24-hour hotline (416-222-3773) remains in operation.