A man who went into the pond to help the dog stated he felt electricity in his feet. This has all the indications of an electric shock drowning or electrocution.
GFCIs are the primary safety mechanism to prevent this. Many community ponds have fountains with no GFCIs. Our neighborhood has 7 fountain pumps. Only 4 had GFCIs when I asked the BOD to look into it for safety's sake. Now they all have GFCIs. But GFCIs fail and must be tested routinely. They make it safer, but not 100% safe.
Whenever you are working in and around water, everything electrical MUST be protected by a GFCI (like in your bathrooms and kitchens).
David
