Street shocks will always be a problem

Toronto stray voltage exposes pets and pedestrians to electric shock from streetlights, sidewalks, handwells, and live wires; Hydro crews conduct ongoing inspections as wet, salty conditions increase conductivity and risk across neighborhoods.

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., a stray voltage shock according to officials. 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, prompting a Hydro review of safety measures.

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, part of addressing stray voltage costs that have totaled $14 million for Toronto Hydro in recent years. "We've been pretty clear that this is going to be an issue always because of shifting and weather changes," she said, adding that in some U.S. locations and in Montreal 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, citing cases like a dog electrocuted on a morning walk in similar circumstances. A 24-hour hotline (416-222-3773) remains in operation.

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