A National Problem on our Public Streets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., Feb. 18, 2016 — (PRNewswire) — The tragic electrocutions this week of two dogs, one while walking on a public sidewalk in a Chicago suburb and the other in Washington DC, represent the most extreme examples of what can happen when electrical faults, called contact voltage, are not actively looked for or are ignored.

"Contact voltage is the presence of electricity on any publically accessible object." according to Mark Voigtsberger, President of Utility Testing and Geographic Information Systems (UT/GIS, UTGIS) "These incidents in Chicago and DC could have easily killed a toddler or an adult."  Initial news reports quote both dog owners as being shocked themselves as they attempted to rescue their pets.

Contact voltage is often called stray voltage.  Stray voltage is a unique condition applicable only to the agriculture industries.  Contact voltage more often than not is a result of some internal or external wiring problem and at a much higher electrical potential than stray voltage.

"2016 already has a number of reported contact voltage events," said Voigtsberger. "They come in from across North America and most are found on our city streets."  So far this winter:

A dog was electrocuted by a light...