THAT FIRE HYDRANT REALLY ISN'T YOUR DOG'S BEST FRIEND!
A dog and a fire hydrant are a common fixture on the pet loving landscape. But did you realize that that metal fixture could shock or even kill your unsuspecting pooch? Shocking but true, any metal object could seriously injure (paralysis, edema, brain damage, cardiac arrest, severe trauma) or doom your pet. When a street's underlying cables or sidewalk's wires are ruptured, any adjacent metal may become electrified. But before you and your pet become social shut-ins, you merely need to look to StreetZaps to become street smart.
StreetZaps is a simple online tool dedicated to heightening awareness of this hidden hazard, No area, urban, rural, residential is immune from the risk of conduction as even the site's poster girl pooch was zapped by a hydrant and limped for five days. A Boston-area dog wasn't as lucky and when the owner returned from shopping, he was aghast to find his beloved pet being electrocuted. When you exercise your pooch, please exercise greater caution. The safest contact for both a dog and walker are free-standing non-conductive surfaces: wood, plastic, and cardboard. And the risk is mutual for depending upon the current as the walker will be bitten. Aric Roman got 12 bites when his dog, Kruzer, was shocked and he now has permanent neurological damage (his case is in pre-trial at Con Edison and first appeared on StreetZaps two years ago, please see Testimonies).
Self-protection is within reach! Just adopt this simple and easy strategy: EYEBALL THE BLOCK, AVOID A SHOCK. Take just a few seconds to survey your immediate surroundings, then make your trajectory toward the safer options that abound. If your dog is resistant. the area may be energized, so choose an alternative route. Elude work sites as the perimeters may be electrified. Automated entrances when flooded such as ATOMs could be fatal. And when you deck the halls, keep Fido away from decorative lighting both indoors and out. To learn more about shielding yourself, your child, or pooch from possible harm, please see StreetZaps where you may also map known hazards. A safer walk is yours year round if you are merely willing to open your eyes and your mind to it.
StreetZaps founder, Blair Sorrel, confers with Con Edison's Stray Voltage and Public Affairs Units and was the first non-electrical representative to be invited to the Jodie Lane Fourth National Conference in 2008 (sponsored by Con Edison and The Electric Power Research Institute). The National Electric Code showcases a StreetZaps newsletter every six weeks and it is official public service for Las Vegas and Pittsburgh (the site has been translated into several languages).
Thank you Blair Sorrel
Please help us to welcome Blair to our family ,
Wendy , Cappy , Little man & Sammy Rees
