A local property management company has agreed to pay 11,000 yuan ($1,767) in compensation to a couple whose dog was electrocuted when it urinated on an exposed wire inside their residential community, a local court said Tuesday.

The couple, who was not identified, had owned the purebred Labrador Retriever for several years, walking it every day in their community, according to a press release from Putuo District People's Court.

When typhoon Haikui swept through the city last August, they took the dog for its daily walk after the storm died down.

During the walk, the dog ran to a nearby lamp post to sniff. When it began to mark its territory, it collapsed into convulsions as if it had suffered an electric shock. The couple took the dog to a hospital, but it didn't survive. They later found that the lamp post had been damaged during the storm and some of its wiring had become exposed. 

They sued the property management company after it only offered to pay 1,100 yuan to cover the dog's burial expenses. In court, they demanded 50,000 yuan in compensation for the dog's death and to cover its medical expenses.

The two parties eventually settled the case through mediation.

A court mediator said that the couple became emotional every time they talked about the dog, and pointed out that the exposed wire may have injured a resident if the dog hadn't found it. 

Global Times