As an autistic parent to autistic kids, a veterinary technologist and a human being, I never thought I would have to write this. In an autistic led parent education group someone posted about elopement and how to help their child. One person suggested an electric fence.
Even A dog Trainer Finds it Horrific
A dog trainer that I had been following for years, Victoria Stillwell, is against electric shock. When I tweeted her, telling her about the Judge Rotenberg Center, she was shocked!
Adverse Effects of Electric Fences
The data is on animals because no one with any compassion would think of using this to contain people. A fence that is equipped with an electric charge will shock any living thing would would touch it. It can be from 2,000 to 10,000 volts of electricity. They can be extremely dangerous.
There have been veterinarians that have warned people about the harm of electric fences. In worst cases, the dog would suffer from a severe infection that can be fatal. It can also result in trauma. They would either avoid the area where the fence is or become very aggressive. They would associate an specific person to harm if the person is present each time they get zapped. They can be burned, suffer from seizures and can even stop a heart.
When a animal or human touches an electric fence, they receive an electric shock. This will hurt and can cause psychological damage.
Abuse Even For Dogs
Lets think about this. Electric fences emit 2,000 to 10,000 volts. They are marketed for dogs and livestock. A dog trainer I absolutely love named Victoria Stillwell advocates against them. She is all about positivity when training dogs. Electric fences traumatize dogs. Imagine what it would do to a child. Victoria Stillwell explains in this video why electric fences should NEVER be used. If you need to look online for training videos, this is the trainer to follow.
How Soon We Forget About the Judge Rotenburg Center
This “school” received a lot of bad press because they use electric shocks in response to self injury. The FDA tried banning it but the JRC appealed and won. Blog for more info
This devices uses 60 volts and 15 milliamps of electicity. This is enough to burn the skin. This is delivered via electrodes that are directly only the skin. This is used as punishment. People are horrified. Yet a parent of an autistic child thought that using an electric fence to contain an autistic child in thier yard was ok? I don’t think so.
Family Experience with Electric Shock
When Roo was 7, he is 13 now, we lived in an old townhouse where the landlord did not fix much. Roo turned on the light in the dining room and was shocked. We thought we would watch it as he was ok. A few hours later, his finger swelled 3 times it size and we took him across the street to pediatric urgent care.
The doctor told us we were lying and that we should soak it. This did not set right so we brought him to the emergency room. In the emergency room. In the emergency room, they did X-rays and saw there was a lot of fluid on his finger. They admitted him and he was hospitalized for 8 days.
Our landlord said to us “these things happen.” Thats when we contacted a lawyer because he was so callous with how dangerous this was. We found out later the light switch wasn’t grounded. That was 120 volts to a 40 pound kid’s finger.
When he found out he was being hospitalized, he was more worried about walking Bug to class as Bug was declassified at this time. He really should not have been but I digress. He was being a good big brother.
Anyway, the next day we found out he had osteomylitis and MRSR. Two serious infections. This was caused by the electricity separating the soft tissue from the bone. They did surgery to remove part of his fingertip. They also drained 5 ML of fluid out of his little finger.
Before discharge they did another procedure to put in a central line. They released him home to me because I have experience administering IV antibiotics. I did this at home until his infections disease doctor was satisfied that he did not need it anymore. We then went to the emergency room and they removed the central line. He told me it felt weird having it taken out.
Not only did he lose part of his finger tip, it traumatized him greatly. When going to the dentist and seeing the equipment, he would always ask “Am I going to have surgery?” The mask at the hospital and the mask at the dentist has the same scent and he had a panic attack.
Sources:
https://petcosset.com/can-electric-fence-hurt-dog/
Aviva Seigler 