How well can you identify electrical dangers to protect yourself, your child, and/or your dog?

StreetZaps.com, an educational initiative led by public safety advocate Blair Sorrel, aims to reduce the year-round risk of injury and fatality from stray voltage for pedestrians and pets.

According to StreetZaps.com, any metal can deliver a shock including lamp posts, fire hydrants, manhole covers, pay phones, scaffolding, automated entrances, ATMs, and unmarked metal plates. Moisture increases the risk of shock while salt increases conductivity. Dog urine contains both. Mind where you walk and where your dog “goes.”

ACT NOW!

Learn more about this issue and spread the word. You could spare an injury and even save a life.

• Eyeball the block and avoid a shock. Learn how to avoid trouble and dispel common misconceptions at Street Zaps Safety Page.
• View international shock alerts before walking in your city.
• Report a shock so others may be spared. Street Zaps confirms and forwards your report to the proper Utility company.
• Download the Street Zaps Flyer to share with a friend.

WHY IT MATTERS

Stray voltage is a common problem as infrastructure deteriorates across the world. According to StreetZaps, New Yorkers alone walk over a network of 94,000 miles of electrical cable each day, some corroded, tampered with or damaged by automobile accidents and construction. Every neighborhood, including yours, is susceptible.

WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR DOG

• Avoid tying your dog’s leash to – or elimination on – a lamp or any metal post, even if it appears intact.
• Avoid moving toward metal, walking instead toward wood, plastic and other non-conductive items.
• Avoid rubber dog booties. They retain conductive moisture rather than protective insulation.
• Avoid conductive ice melt products.
• Avoid leashes/collars with metal parts.

ABOUT BLAIR SORREL AND STREETZAPS

Blair Sorrel didn’t plan to take up this cause. She first read a disturbing piece in the New York Post about Zorro, a dog killed by a leaking lamppost in the West Village in 2001. She then penned a simple “WATCH WHERE YOU WALK YOUR DOG!” flyer. Not long after, she testified at the City Council’s First Sidewalk Safety Hearing after Jodie Lane, a 30-year-old doctoral candidate at Columbia University, was tragically electrocuted in 2004 trying to pull her two dogs off a service box. Blair says of her history:

My advocacy began with this [New York Post] article, a pen, a steady supply of Post-it’s, and my heart.  I never imagined that this sincere and primitive outreach would evolve into Streetzaps.com.

Thanks to Blair, StreetZaps has become a valuable, global resource to increase our street smarts, reducing the risk of outdoor shock and electrocution for humans and their pets. Please use it, share it and be aware.

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