If you would like to learn more about this serious issue, please read this website. It has everything you need to know about contact voltage. Sadly, it took the life of a young woman in NYC. Her father created this site and foundation in her honor to raise awareness of this deadly hazard and has made tremendous efforts in NYC’s public safety, but we can all still use your help to spread the word to prevent future tragedies from happening. This is a very informative site. If you wish, there is also a section to make donations to the Jodie S. Lane Foundation and also sign a petition.
- A monetary settlement with Con Edison, the power utility responsible for Jodie’s death;
- A scholarship in Jodie’s name, as she was pursuing her PhD in clinical psychology;
- Improved public safety in New York City, Jodie’s home and the city she adored.
*******************Also, this is an issue in Toronto, Canada~
Toronto Hydro is blaming stray voltage for the death of a dog Tuesday in the city’s west-end.
And although officials admit they don’t know how widespread a problem it is, they are denying the incident is connected with the electrocution of a German Shepherd in the same area two months ago.
After that dog was killed, workers began a full sweep of the city’s power grid for hot spots. They should be finished testing in a few weeks.
Darjan Avramovic’s Labradoodle Mrak was killed when it stepped on a metal hydro plate charged with electricity near Keele and Annette.
It appears that old, faulty wiring leading to a light post at the intersection was sending an electrical current up through the ground, and the dog’s wet paws acted as a conductor.
Unfortunately, efforts to revive Mrak with CPR failed.
I lived on that block in NYC the winter that woman died – there were several more mishaps throughout the city all winter long. My dog must have gotten a little shock at some point – he stopped walking on anything dark on the sidewalk (which usually turned out to be electric access panels). To this day I walk around them, afraid of what happened on my block all those years ago. I’m so sorry for your loss, I can’t imagine the pain of having that happen to my dog.