SHOCKER SPANIEL!

Fault leaves pets in agony as they are electrocuted by walking on pavement

A STREET was evacuated by police amid fears dogs were being injured by an electrified pavement.

The Christmas lights switch-on in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, was cancelled and people were advised to avoid the area due to safety concerns.

Yesterday a couple described how their dog had started yelping in pain while he was being walked in Market Square on Sunday. Other dog owners reported that their pets had suffered similar symptoms, and the cause is believed to have been an underground electrical fault.

George and Janice Brownie rushed three-year-old pet Coby to the vet after he began howling in pain.

They at first thought he had suffered a broken leg and, as Mrs Brownie held him down on the pavement to stop him suffering further injury, he started biting her arms.

Another local resident who gave the couple a lift to the vet said his dog had also yelped in pain at the same spot.

Police later told the Brownies, both 59, there was a suspected electrical fault in the area. Their daughter Becky said: ‘My parents thought he’d broken his leg and so were trying to hold him down to stop him moving not realising he was being electrocuted from the pavement, so he ended up biting all up their arms. ‘When they let him up he moved from the spot on the pavement. ‘People gathered around them to help them. Someone drove my mum and Coby to the vet. ‘At the vet they found one of his eyes wasn’t reacting like it should so they thought it could have been a seizure. ‘The guy who took them to the vet said his dog had yelped at that exact spot. ‘Police spoke to my mum and said there were electrical faults, which the vet said would make sense as to why his eye, the one closest to the pavement, wasn’t reacting properly. ‘Coby is fine now thankfully.’ No people were injured but police were alerted to other reports of dogs suffering shocks.

Aberdeenshire Council cancelled the switching on of the Christmas lights as a precaution. Police Scotwhite land confirmed that the area had been evacuated on Sunday and that energy company Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) had been alerted to the fault.

A spokesman from SSEN said: ‘We are aware of an incident affecting a dog in Stonehaven.

‘Our engineers reported to site to ensure the local electricity network was safe and investigations continue into the cause of the incident.’ In 2014, a two-year-old

poodle named Scampie was hurled across a street by a blast after relieving himself by a lamp post on his daily walk.

The pet was being walked through Swindon, Wiltshire, by his owner when he was electrocuted by the faulty post.

The dog was thrown 10ft by the force of the shock and had to be rescued, quivering, from the street by his owner, Ernest Reid, 68, who feared his dog could have died in the accident.

Mr Reid, a retired electrical engineer, had been walking his pet at around 10pm and said he remembered smelling burning – but did not make the connection to the lamp post.

At the time, he said: ‘He stopped at the lamp post for a wee and then he let out a yelp.

‘I turned around and saw Scampie being thrown across the path and he landed on the grass about three metres away.’

It was thought a burning moped had earlier been up against the pole, causing the electrical wires to fuse and short circuit.

‘They thought he had a broken leg’ ‘I saw Scampie thrown 10ft’