Susan Pisegna let her dog, Snowbell, loose outside her Hermitage home at about 4 a.m. on June 7. When she later called for the West Highland terrier to come in, it did not return. After searching hours for the dog, she noticed a neighbor raking something out of her yard.

The small, white "something" was Snowbell. The 18-month-old dog had bitten an electric fence in the neighbor's yard and was electrocuted.

The fence was designed to keep animals such as rabbits out of a garden, said Kathy Whiteman, the Mercer County Dog Warden of the Shenango Valley Animal Shelter.

The fence owners, Daryl and Darla Williams of Spencer Road, Hermitage, were unable to be reached for comment after repeated attempts by The Herald, but told police that the fence was powered by electricity from their home. They also thought the animal should not have been on their property in the first place, and that the fence was not intended to hurt the dog, police said.

After the dog's death, police forced the Williams family to turn the fence off temporarily until a proper voltage regulator was put on it. The family had been running the fence on a 20 amp fuse. After making the required changes, the fence is on again. However, police said fences like that in general are not illegal.

"You can buy a kit to make an electric fence at any local feed store," said Hermitage Deputy Police Chief Larry Matchak. "They are often used to protect gardens, and as far as we have seen, nothing criminal occurred here."

But the dog's family is not so concerned with criminal acts.

"We mostly are hurt by how cold they were," said Ms. Pisegna of the fence owners. "We only asked that they replace the dog with another dog, but they feel they are at no fault here and lack all compassion and have shown no remorse."

However, because Ms. Pisegna's dog was loose in the yard, if any citation is given, it may be to them for the untied animal, police said.

Hermitage zoning laws also do not mention any limitations on the uses of electric fences.

"The laws (on zoning) do not even mention electrical fences separately," said Nathan Zampogna, the city's building and zoning administrator. "They (the electric fences) would fall under basic fence regulations which state only that fences have to be under 6 feet and not blocking any legal right of way."

Both the police and the animal shelter staff said they are investigating but said they do not think any citations will be filed.