Woman and dog given severe electric shock while passing lamppost on rainy walk - leaving pooch foaming at the mouth
A woman and her dog nearly died while on a rainy walk - when she claims both she and her pooch were shocked while walking past a lamp post.
Montana Mitchell was taking two-year-old Denim for a 'routine' post-run walk during her marathon training when she claims the Labrador suddenly started 'screaming' and 'convulsing'.
The 'confused' 31-year-old says she leaned over to console the canine but instantly felt a 'buzz around her waist' where she was wearing a metal lead. As the yoga teacher 'ripped off' Denim's collar and harness she felt a 'major shock' run through her hands, arms, chest and spine but had no idea where it was coming from.
Montana was left 'petrified' and 'sobbing' as her pet began 'foaming at the mouth', but thankfully a kind stranger helped them to her car.
After rushing her pooch to the vet, she discovered Denim had potential fluid build-up in his lungs and a burn on his armpit, lower belly and the side of his face and feels lucky' he is still alive.
Hospital doctors feared Montana herself might have a cardiac arrest from where the electric current passed through her body but thankfully tests did not reveal anything.
She believes the shock was caused by a lamp post that had some sort of live current that was transferred through the wet pavement.
While she says it is a 'miracle' her and Denim are both alive, Montana is 'devastated' not to be able to walk her dog because she is now too scared.
A similar incident occurred where a dog owner Bob Robinson-Dassel reportedly lost his pet, Nikki, when she was electrocuted to death after walking over a metal plate on the sidewalk in Pittsburgh in January 2024.
Believing it wasn't just a freak accident Montana now wants to spread awareness and put pressure on the city council to investigate further to ensure this does not happen again.
Montana, who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, said: "That dog walk could've killed both of us. It was the scariest thing that ever happened to me.
"This is a routine route we run all the time. We'd finished a run and were walking and all of a sudden we walked past [the pole]. There was no metal plate or live wire or anything.
"Out of nowhere Denim started screaming and his paws were rolling in towards his chest and he started convulsing. At first I was confused about what was happening and thought maybe he'd stepped on something.
"When I leaned over to console him and comfort him and I touched him I realised I was getting a little buzz around my waist because I wear his leash around my waist.
"At this point Denim had been thrown to his side and his legs were jilted out. It was like he was being tasered and he defecated on himself. I remember thinking 'I need to get all the metal off of his body'.
"That's when I leaned over and started taking off his hardness and his collars and that's when I really felt the major shock. I felt it move through my hands, up and down my arms, through my chest and down my spine. I just ripped everything off of his body but still it wasn't helping anything. I didn't know where the shock was coming from so I didn't know what to get away from. He was foaming at the mouth and I was petrified."
After a stranger drove Montana back to her car and called 911 she took Denim straight to the vet and was told to monitor him for 36 hours.
She then went to hospital and was told she could've suffered a cardiac arrest from the electric shock but luckily her tests all came back clear but needs to take her and Denim for another check-up.
Montana said: "We're both very lucky to be okay and I think it's a miracle that Denim's still alive. I felt for hours that I had been shocked down my arms, my chest and down my spine were tingly like I'd been shocked.
"Doctors told me that if you're electrically shocked, your hands and arms are the worst place for it to happen. If you're shocked in your arms or hands then it's a direct line to your heart so they were nervous I was going to go into cardiac arrest. I think it's a miracle that nothing is showing up.
"I'm shocked Denim is as okay as he is. Luckily he still seems very normal and everyday he gets more energy back. It's been really hard to sleep and I keep replaying it in my head."
The 'devastated' dog owner admitted she will never walk or run with her dogs in the rain again, especially because Denim refuses to wear rubber shoes to protect his paws. She now wants to urge the council to take action and investigate further to prevent this from happening to anyone else.
Montana said: "My running shoes have rubber on them so if it was just me I probably wouldn't have noticed. I think my rubber shoes saved my life. I think the reason Denim fell was because it was just his bare paws exposed on the sidewalk. Maybe if it wasn't raining it would've been a different story.
"When I learned this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, that's when I decided to go public about it. It seems like a freak accident but evidently it's not. My goal is to make sure that this doesn't happen and the city does whatever it needs to do to keep us safe because it's a public safety issue.
"It's not like I put myself in a dangerous position or did something reckless. I was simply walking my dog down the sidewalk and we're paying for it. I don't have kids so my dogs are like my little kids but I think about if it were a toddler and they touched the wet sidewalk.
"It's really devastating [that I can't walk my dogs]. I feel bad because obviously we can't communicate so they don't understand why they're being cooped up. I don't think I'll ever run in the rain again. Even if it's sprinkling outside, I'm going to avoid walking and running the dogs which is sad but I can't take that risk again.
"There's lots of ways to try and be safe and take precautions but ultimately I think it's up to the city to make sure public safety is at the forefront of their mind."
A spokesperson for the Mayor of Pittsburgh said: "We were made aware of this event late last week. First, we can't even imagine how traumatic this was for Montana and Denim, but we are glad that both were immediately evaluated and neither sustained ongoing physical injuries.
"The utility pole in question was immediately disabled and we launched an investigation. We found that the sheath on the bottom of the electric pole had been damaged in some way, which caused the wires within to pinch and shift.
"The wires came into direct contact with the metal sheath, activating the pole. This was different from what happened in 2024, which was an activated metal ground panel that was connected to a bridge utility box. That situation ended in the tragic death of Nikki.
"Following that event, the former Administration engaged with a third-party to investigate and their report recommended a full inventory of utility infrastructure safety citywide. To our knowledge, only the bridges have been evaluated. Mayor O'Connor finds these incidents unacceptable and it's our first priority to keep Pittsburgh safe.
"Using the third-party report, our Department of Mobility and Infrastructure has already been deployed to complete the citywide assessment of utility poles, plates and other infrastructure that pedestrians could come in contact with."