An American company is warning that Vancouver's streets are dotted with potential electric danger spots, putting animals and small children in harm's way.
Tom Catanese, president of the Power Survey Company, has done 18 hours of unsolicited surveillance in Vancouver, looking for areas of high voltage caused by faulty wiring and deteriorating infrastructure.
"We've covered a very small percentage of the city, and we've found over 100 problems. To put that in perspective, in a small portion of this city we've found double what we found in a sweep of the entire city of Seattle," Catanese said.
"We've got problems on such a level here that I wouldn't want to walk my kid or my dog down the street."
Just last week, a powerful shock on a Seattle street killed Lisa McKibbin's dog Sammy. The case led to the city to contact Catanese for help, and he decided to add on a trip to Vancouver.
He says that since he's been in the city, he's found energized street lights, sidewalks and manhole covers, some reaching voltages as high as those found in a wall socket.
Delta Mayor and Metro Vancouver Chairwoman Lois Jackson wants the region to investigate Catanese's findings.
"We're gathering information as we speak. I don't want people to be panicked about this -- it's just another thing we have to look at to try to keep the public safe," Jackson said.
Vancouver's Electricity Manager Al Luongo says he's looking into it.
"We are going to investigate those allegations, and until we figure out what is actually going on, we're going to continue to look. We have a very rigorous inspection program with our poles as well, and we try to maintain our aging infrastructure as well as we possibly can," he said.
But the city only looks into the problem of high street-side voltage when complaints are called in. In the last five years, there have only been three complaints.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Sarah Galashan
