By Steven Bell

THE ELECTROCUTION of a dog on a residential street in Dundee was caused by a “unique set of circumstances” which did not pose a significant risk of harm to the public.

That was the claim made by Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution last night as the initial findings of a probe into the death of 12-year-old husky retriever Milou in Tait’s Lane on Friday were revealed.

The conclusions were, however, disputed by the owners of the dog, who accused the electricity giant of “issuing spin” while failing to even offer an apology.

One local councillor, meanwhile, is to contact the Health and Safety Executive to call for an independent inquiry in light of widespread concerns among constituents.

Councillor Fraser Macpherson, who represents the West End ward, held talks with a senior representative of the Perth company yesterday over what he described as a “dreadful occurrence.”

“I was advised that, although investigations are continuing into the terrible incident on Friday, their initial investigations indicate a fault in electrical joints underground that caused a surge of voltage,” he said.

“He advised that the type of short circuit was ‘very unusual’ and that there were no exposed wires.

“One of the major concerns residents are raising is the possible dangers to children and any other pedestrians and the Scottish Hydro Electric representative claimed that, because voltage dissipates differently in animals compared to human beings, he was confident the surge would not have killed a human being.

“I was assured, however, that investigations into all aspects of Friday’s dreadful occurrence are continuing.”

A thorough investigation was also demanded by Keith Baar and his wife Barbara Miltner as they struggled to come to terms with the death of their beloved pet during a walk on Friday morning.

The distraught couple, who usually take their baby with them, said the incident could have been even more disastrous if a child had been involved.

Power bosses last night maintained there was no “significant risk of harm” to the public during an incident which left wires in the ground smoking.

A Hydro Electric spokesperson said, “Thankfully this is a very rare situation and we are continuing to investigate thoroughly. As soon as we realised what had happened, we had engineers on the scene within minutes.

“All streetlights are designed to ensure there is no danger to the public should a technical fault on the low voltage network occur.

“This situation was the result of a unique set of circumstances and sadly resulted in a dog losing its life on Friday.

“We can reassure local residents there was never a significant risk of harm to them as human beings would not have been affected in the same way.”

The dog’s owners said last night that statement was at odds with the information they were given at the scene by the emergency crew that was sent out.

“Our dog was not a small dog, she was 65 pounds, and any electricity that is capable of almost instantaneously killing a 65 pound animal would clearly have the same effect on a 65 pound child,” said Barbara.

“The emergency response crew that dug up the road within an hour of our dog dying said that the entire area was live and the voltage through it was capable of killing an adult. They said we were very lucky not to have been affected.”

She accused the firm of “issuing spin” through media statements after the event.