Greenfield couple grieving electrocuted dog hopes for answers

PITTSBURGH — An independent third party is now investigating what caused a beloved pet’s deadly electrocution earlier this month in Squirrel Hill.

A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office confirmed that investigation Wednesday, as the dog’s family continues to grieve.

>> Channel 11 presses for answers after dog fatally electrocuted on public Pittsburgh sidewalk

“Somebody downtown needs to have some answers and to put some program in place not to have this happen again,” said Bob Robinson-Dassel. “I’m very devastated about losing my dog but can’t imagine a mother or father who would lose a child.”

Bob and his wife, Kathi, spoke to Channel 11 from inside of their Greenfield home, sharing photographs of their dearly-loved pup, Nikki.

>> Cause of dog’s electrocution on public Pittsburgh sidewalk still unclear

They adopted the border collie lab mix about five years ago, and she quickly became a part of the family.

“She was just a great dog right from the beginning,” Kathi told us.

Nikki and Bob took two-mile walks each day, and, on Sunday, Jan. 7, they took their last when Nikki stepped onto a metal plate located right within 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 told 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 hands, which he believes was a means of protecting him and keeping him back from the plate. She had otherwise never even nipped before.

“I would have been laying there, along with Nikki,” he said, feeling that she may have saved his life.

Bob phoned loved ones to assist him in removing Nikki’s body from the scene, and a family friend 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 numerous officials for answers, but few have been answered.

While the Robinson-Dassels are not currently taking legal action, they do believe that the tragedy was preventable.

Bob told Channel 11 that multiple dog walkers have since informed him that they reported concerns about the bridge previously.

“They had noticed that there was a jolt their dogs had received and they did report it through 311,” he said.

Councilwoman Barb Warwick, who represents the district, tells us that her team did locate one 311 report. How the issue was missed, she said, is part of the investigation.

Meanwhile, loved ones and neighbors have been offering a lot of support to the grieving couple.

Viewers have even called Channel 11, offering their condolences. One Armstrong County man even offered up a puppy to the family for free, however, Bob said they’ve already started the process of adopting another dog 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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