Manitoba

Dog gets zapped by downed power line due to Winnipeg storm

A dog was shocked in Winnipeg on Sunday after coming into contact with a downed power line.

City of Winnipeg has declared local state of emergency due to storm damage

Crews cleanup after a snow storm which hit parts of Manitoba Thursday and Friday in Winnipeg on Sunday, October 13, 2019. (John Woods/Canadian Press)

A dog was zapped in Winnipeg after coming into contact with a downed power line on Sunday.

The incident happened in Old St. Vital when the four-legged animal came into contact with the live line while walking through a puddle.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service had few details available but confirmed it received a 911 call shortly after 5:30 p.m. for a downed power line that shocked a dog in the area of St. Andrew Road and Hull Avenue.

When crews arrived, the dog was no longer on scene and crews were not required.

Sunday's incident is at least the third in recent days where a person or animal got hurt due to the October long weekend storm that has wreaked havoc on Manitoba.

On Friday morning, a woman was knocked unconscious on the road by a falling heavy tree branch. She was rushed to hospital in critical condition.

Crews cleanup after a snow storm which hit parts of Manitoba Thursday and Friday in Winnipeg on Sunday. (John Woods/The Canadian Press)

The city says three people were also sent to hospital in stable condition Friday morning on Queen Elizabeth Way after a crash with Winnipeg Transit.

Live downed power lines in a parking lot forced the evacuation of an advance voting station at Robert A. Steen Community Centre Sunday evening. No one was hurt.

Amid a provincial state of emergency, the city is warning residents to be careful while walking around and is asking anyone who sees a downed power line to call 911.

Mayor Brian Bowman says the storm clean up may take months and is estimated to cost the city tens of millions of dollars. (Austin Grabish/CBC)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

​Austin Grabish is a reporter for CBC News in Winnipeg. Since joining CBC in 2016, he's covered several major stories. Some of his career highlights have been documenting the plight of asylum seekers leaving America in the dead of winter for Canada and the 2019 manhunt for two teenage murder suspects. In 2021, he won an RTDNA Canada award for his investigative reporting on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which triggered change. Have a story idea? Email: austin.grabish@cbc.ca