Sorry, Toronto dogs: Stray voltage problems won't go away
Posted: January 07, 2010, 6:30 AM by Rob Roberts
This enormous five-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Schroeder (he weighs close to 50 kilograms) was being walked on a Toronto street when he stepped on a small asphalt patch on the sidewalk and was shocked. This lucky dog lived to tell the tale!
After two dogs died from stray voltage last winter, Toronto Hydro last February did a month-long blitz with all its employees, and discovered 1,600 instances of contact voltage which they repaired. Toronto Hydro says that, despite its efforts (it has spent $14.4-million tracking and fixing stray voltage) this problem will continue to plague the city -- and threaten the dogs.
The main culprit are small “handwell covers” that house the wiring of street lights, a network that Toronto Hydro in 2005 took over from the City of Toronto. Toronto Hydro uses fibreglass for its new covers. Going forward, Hydro has contracted Power Survey Co., of New Jersey, which has three trucks permanently sweeping Toronto, searching for stray voltage.
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