PITTSBURGH — An unbiased third celebration is now investigating what triggered a beloved pet’s lethal electrocution earlier this month in Squirrel Hill.
A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office confirmed that investigation Wednesday, because the canine’s household continues to grieve.
Bob and his spouse, Kathi, spoke to Channel 11 from within their Greenfield home, sharing images of their dearly-loved pup, Nikki.
“Somebody downtown needs to have some answers and to put some program in place not to have this happen again,” stated Bob Robinson-Dassel. “I’m very devastated about losing my dog but can’t imagine a mother or father who would lose a child.”
>> Cause of canine’s electrocution on public Pittsburgh sidewalk nonetheless unclear
They adopted the border collie lab combine about 5 years in the past, and she or he rapidly turned part of the household.
“She was just a great dog right from the beginning,” Kathi informed us.
Nikki and Bob took two-mile walks every day, and, on Sunday, Jan. 7, they took their final when Nikki stepped onto a metallic plate positioned proper throughout the public sidewalk on the Murray Avenue bridge in Squirrel Hill South.
“It looked to me like Nikki was having a seizure and I was completely taken aback by it,” Bob informed us. “She was yelping and screaming and I tried to go in on her to pick her up or do something.”
That’s when Nikki bit Bob on the arms, which he believes was a method of defending him and conserving him again from the plate. She had in any other case by no means even nipped earlier than.
“I would have been laying there, along with Nikki,” he stated, feeling that she could have saved his life.
Bob phoned family members to help him in eradicating Nikki’s physique from the scene, and a household buddy was shocked as he touched her paw.
“At that point, I realized it was an electrocution, it wasn’t a stroke, it wasn’t a seizure.”
Channel 11 has pressed quite a few officers for solutions, however few have been answered.
While the Robinson-Dassels should not at the moment taking authorized motion, they do consider that the tragedy was preventable.
Bob informed Channel 11 that a number of canine walkers have since knowledgeable him that they reported issues concerning the bridge beforehand.
“They had noticed that there was a jolt their dogs had received and they did report it through 311,” he stated.
Councilwoman Barb Warwick, who represents the district, tells us that her workforce did find one 311 report. How the problem was missed, she stated, is a part of the investigation.
Meanwhile, family members and neighbors have been providing loads of help to the grieving couple.
Viewers have even referred to as Channel 11, providing their condolences. One Armstrong County man even supplied up a puppy to the household without cost, nonetheless, Bob stated they’ve already began the method of adopting one other canine elsewhere.
“Maybe after we get our next puppy and start working with her and developing our relationship and how things go with that, I might at some point be able to say I’m feeling better.”
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