|
|
 |
| |
Second dog electrocuted by lamppost
Mastiff ‘shot five feet in the air’
A SECOND dog has been electrocuted by a lamppost that was left live for more than three weeks, it has emerged.
Mike Cookson-Taylor has told how his eight-stone Bull Mastiff, called Dog, was thrown five feet into the air as it urinated on the same lamppost that killed German Shepherd Willow two weeks ago.
Last week the New Journal revealed Willow was fatally electrocuted 11 days after a council employee had declared the lamppost safe.
The Health and Safety Executive has since ordered Camden Council to investigate, but says the watchdog is not concerned with accidents not involving humans.
Mr Cookson-Taylor says his dog survived the 240-volt shock but contacted the New Journal to tell of his disbelief on learning the lamppost was left live despite him complaining to Camden Council.
He said: “Dog cocked his leg at the lamppost and shot four or five foot into the air. His head was level with my own, he looked me right in the eyes. He’s eight stone but it threw him in the air and he yelped. If my dog had died I would have been heartbroken.
“It could have been anybody, someone disabled, using the lamppost to steady themselves, children. It’s absolutely horrendous.”
But a Camden Council spokesman says no record can be found of Mr Cookson-Taylor’s complaint.
The lamppost was inspected by council contractors on December 21, when it was recorded as needing non-urgent repairs, though this was not reported to electricity company EDF until a month later.
The lamppost was declared safe by an EDF-trained council contractor with more than 25 years experience, who found one fuse dead and removed a second, which should have stopped any electrical current.
When asked how the lamppost was found to be live before and after it was checked but not when a contractor inspected it, the spokesman said: “There was no danger to the public at the time. It’s speculation to say it was live for X amount of time because we can’t know that.” |
 |
|
|
|
