Another dog shocked by hydro plate in Toronto

Another dog has been shocked by a metal hydro plate in Toronto.

The incident occurred Monday night near the intersection of Danforth and Donlands Avenues when the black lab was out for a walk with its owner and stepped on a sidewalk hydro plate.

Bar owner Jimmy Tzortzouklis says he saw the dog, a chocolate labrador retriever named Shroeder, drop to the ground.

"All of a sudden the dog started shaking, was paralyzed here," he said. "I thought the dog had a seizure or something."

Aldrian Bisa works at a veterinary clinic down the street. He rushed to help the 100-pound dog and felt the current himself.

"The first time I tried to lift the dog, I said, ‘there’s an electric shock,’" Bisa said.

The dog was taken inside the clinic, where doctors determined it wasn’t seriously hurt.

Toronto Hydro spent close to $10-million last year on inspections and repairs to tens of thousands of sidewalk hydro plates across the city last year after several dogs were shocked after stepping on the plates.

On Jan. 13, 2009, a five-year-old Labradoodle named Mrak was electrocuted after stepping on a metal plate at the base of a hydro pole. About a week later, two more dogs being walked by their owner in Yorkville were shocked by metal plates.

Toronto Hydro has warned that stray electricity in the plates may be a problem in the winter months because of aging infrastructure.

But that’s no consolation to dog owners.

"It’s hard with the snow," said dog owner Elizabeth Garel. "You know it will be buried until she walks across it. So you don’t realize that it’s there."

One solution is to ensure your dog is wearing rubber-soled shoes during a walk.