Electric fencing and kids (human)

[lilhill]

I was one of those kids that, when told something would hurt, I had to check it out for myself. I mean, what did adults know anyway. :/

 

[cmjust0]

I read about a small child actually being KILLED by a modern fencer, the child's head touched the wire when the child was well-grounded on wet grass. Extremely rare situation, but why risk it?

I'd like to see a link to such a story, if you would.. I googled around to see if I could come up with anything and found two stories..

One was from Texas where a little girl was killed by an "electric fence" that was literally just a bare wire out of a 120v/20a wall socket.. That would kill anybody, and the guy who put it up should be punished by having it shoved up his rectum and plugged in -- IMHO..

The second was from South Africa where a 4yo tried to chew through an electric fence to get into the factory where his mother worked... They said the fence was "designed to deliver a non-lethal shock," but that it was erected to ward of 2-legged intruders.... My guess is that it wasn't your typical TSC buzzbox, but I could be wrong.

Other than that...I didn't find anything.

 

[freemotion]

I don't remember where I read it, but I was shocked (pun intended! ) I was researching fencers when I found the article. I do remember it seemed reliable. It was a matter of all things coming together just right....or just wrong, I should say. Not the normal circumstances. The child was very young, the grass was wet, the kid touched the fence with his/her head, forehead I think.

Keep looking, let us know if you find it.....

 

[Beekissed]

Wet grass and bare feet sure do amp up the bite, I can tell you this! Ouch!

Love this little cow, BTW.....

And this one...... :bun

and, of course, this one.....

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Oh boy do they ever! Or at least the amount you get.

 

[jhm47]

In my job as an EMT, we occasionally get called to people who have been tased. One guy who was particularly beligerent was tased 4 times. His blood pressure was extraordinarily high, but he was pretty well "tased out". The cops said that these tasers put out 50,000 volts. Stops them in their tracks though.

 

[cmjust0]

The cops said that these tasers put out 50,000 volts.

A fence really only needs a few thousand volts to be effective.. Personally, I like to keep mine running 5,500V at a minimum -- enough to peg a cheapo 5-light tester -- though my experience has been that most "real world" electric fences aren't often that hot.

Point being...a taser puts out 15 or more 50kV pulses per second. My fence puts out one 5.5kV (or so) pulse per second.. Even though they're much more aggressive, tasers rarely kill people...I just can't see an electric livestock fence killing anyone short of some sort of malfunction.

Put it this way...I've seen 25lb goat kids stick their wet noses directly to it while standing chest deep in wet grass, and all they ever do is go BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! and run the other way......well, except for the dumb ones that freak and run through it, then stand on the other side and scream because they got seperated from mama.

 

[Andrew C.]

The problem with small children and electric fence's, is that a sall child has a high likelyhood of touching the fence with it's head which would put a shock through the childs brain maybe, probably not likely too kill with a single shock but the chance is there for some kind of neurological damage, or heaven forbid if the child became entangled in the fence and was shocked repetedly who knows. If my kids were young I would not allow them near an electric fence at all, even supervised, thats my opinion.

I havn't been shocked through the head yet, don't want to either, wet grass and bare feet with my small fence give's me muscle pain afterwards, a well insulated and grounded electric fence as they should be "hurts".

Regards

PS the path of current from human head to ground is markedly different from a four legged animal.

 

[cmjust0]

...probably not likely too kill with a single shock but the chance is there for some kind of neurological damage, or heaven forbid if the child became entangled in the fence and was shocked repetedly who knows

If electric fences could cause neurological damage or death in small children, I doubt they'd be UL listed and sold at Lowe's and TSC.. Underwriters Laboratories tests things for fire and shock hazard, specifically..

That's not to say they couldn't malfunction and hurt someone badly, but the same could be said for a lamp or laptop or cellphone or anything else that runs on electricity.

PS the path of current from human head to ground is markedly different from a four legged animal.

How is it different? I'd actually say that it's remarkably similar...charger to head to foot, then through the earth back to the charger. Doesn't really matter if it's a cow or sheep or goat or horse or human.

I've seen goat kids weighing less than 20lbs get an 6,500V jolt right though the nose...they go "BAAH" and run away...then go right back to eating.

 

[Andrew C.]

How is it different? I'd actually say that it's remarkably similar...charger to head to foot, then through the earth back to the charger. Doesn't really matter if it's a cow or sheep or goat or horse or human.

I've seen goat kids weighing less than 20lbs get an 6,500V jolt right though the nose...they go "BAAH" and run away...then go right back to eating.

I have no proof of any possibility of neurological damage, but I have drawn a simple picture to show what I mean.

A goat will usually investigate things with thier nose, hence the current would go from nose to hooves, where as if a child was to be shocked on the head, the child would most likely touch it with the top of the head.

I have drawn the locations of the brain spinal chord and heart in each as closely as I know in blue, the current path in red, as you can see if a goat touches the fence with it's nose the current would not pass through its brain, brainstem, spinal chord or heart. I see my goats touch the fence with thier nose mainly the first time.

On the other hand if a child or any human for that matter touches the fence with the head the current path would pass through the brain and possibly the brain stem and the heart.

I am definately no expert but thats how I see it. As I wrote "maybe neurological damage" It would be very difficult to know if any subtle neuro damage was done to a goat such as learning difficulties. A goat dosn't need to learn to read and write. Better to safe than sorry.