Does the meter reader (power company) have the right to come into your fenced in yard and pepper spray dog?

Question

ESPECIALLY IF YOUR OBVIOUSLY HOME WITH TWO CARS OUT FRONT AND ONE OF THE HOUSE DOORS OPEN, that he had to walk right past? This is a large house dog, and yes he will bark and approach if a stranger comes in the yard...

We NEVER leave him outside when we are not home.

BUT, if you are home does the meter reader person (for the power company).....

* LEGALLY * have the right to enter the fenced in yard and pepper spray/mace your dog???
WHEN YOUR HOME???

Answer 1

I am not an expert on this but from what I have heard they do have the right to enter a yard if the meter is there because the meter is their property. And I think it gives them the right if they feel threatened to pepper spray a dog. Right or wrong....But if you were home it looks like they would have knocked on the door and ask you to restrain the dog while they were out there.

Answer 2

IF you have fenced in the easement, or the meter cannot be read from the fence (many meter readers I know, use a small telescope to do so), then yes they have the right to come in and read your meter. As far as pepper spraying the dog goes, they probably also have the right to defend themselves. It's too bad he didn't ring the doorbell first however. Perhaps your power company can let you know in advance what days the meter will be read, so you can keep your pup indoors. Sorry for his misery, after all he probably only thought he was defending you and his "turf" against an intruder.

Answer 3

The power meter is the power company's property. They have - in my opinion - the right to access it at will, or terminate service.

Your framing of the question is a little leading: "...into your fenced in yard AND pepper spray...". Really, what happened is that he entered your fenced yard. He was then - later - threatened by your dog.

I say feel lucky they don't penalize you. You could ask them to put an RF meter in - requiring no meter reader. I'd find your other meters (water / gas...) to make sure you don't run into trouble with them too.

Answer 4

My brother-in-law works for our city's power company. He said that the meter readers should first check to see if there is a dog. If so, they should try and read the meter from a neighboring house... if that doesn't work, then they need to try to contact the dog's owners.

That happened to me one time, also... only without the pepper spray. My dog was running up and down and I saw her from the window as I was talking on the phone. Next, I saw a scared meter man swatting at my dog with his clipboard and, ultimately, leaping over the fence.

I told my bro-in-law about it, fearing I might have been sued, had my dog have bitten the guy. That's when my bro-in-law explained the guy's error.

Why don't you contact your power company and explain to them what happened to your dog?

Answer 5

Yes they can. And they can also defend themselves against charging dogs. They have a job to do. Why is your meter inside your fenced yard.
Maybe you should look into moving your meter (if possible) or pushing back your fence so the meter is exposed.

Answer 6

Yes. Poor decision on his part to just barge in, but once there and confronted by your dog it's a bit too late to ask and you can't blame him for protecting himself.

There is no legal recourse for you, but you might want to put up a 'warning: dog' sign on your fence and write a complaint letter to your power company.

If this resulted in a vet bill and you had a posted sign, I'd *definitely* ask for repayment or a credit to your account as the employee made a bad call. With no sign on the gate you're SOL. That's why people post them...

Answer 7

They have the right. Get RF meter. Try also to be aware when they read the meter to take precautions.

Answer 8

Yes, he has a legal right. His legal status is business visitor. It is the obligation of the property owner to make the premises safe for business visitors.
He has a right to defend himself. Pepper spray is way better than a gun, a taser or electric animal prod.

Answer 9

Yes,

The utility companies can come onto your property any time they want to service their equipment. And in doing so, they can protect themselves while doing so from you or your pets.

Same with the police, if I am dispatched to your home or there on any type of an investigation and your dog attacks me, I will be authorized to use any and all force, including deadly force, to prevent from getting bitten.

Answer 10

Yep. And he could probably sue you for the dog's threatening behavior. You need to either put your dog on a leash or move either your dog or meter to an area where the dog can't attack the meter reader.