Well that wasn't that exciting. Just a jolt and he walks away...

~Zoo

The wire is in plain sight and non-lethal, so booby trap laws don't apply.The guy could say it's up to keep squirrels away. If I were to walk up to a cattle fence and get shocked, should I sue the farmer? Yet another example of lack of personal responsibility. Stay the hell off other peoples property and you won't have to make excuses for wrongdoing. This person probably taught this kid a valuable lesson that will stay with him the rest of his life.

That was unwarranted

I guess you are not a big fan of America's Funniest Home Videos. They may not show videos of children being shocked, but some of those kid videos could be seen as painful (and dangerous) yet many crack up about them. Bare in mind I am not defending ID's idea of what funny is, but the average person seems to think painful situations caught on tape can be hilarious, even when it's a child in the video.

He probably will, not sure if rightly so though. After all, the child was tresspassing on his property and stealing. I don't expect the child to be prosecuted, but should we ignore this behavious simply because he is 9 years old?

I do wonder if he suspected a child to be doing this and would he have done this if he knew it was a child?

Whip's comment +1.

My Obama yard sign has benn taken twice...funny, I never would have thought to electrify it.  Just shows how different minds think.

Be well.

If this was my kid, he could expect more than a little zap from the electrical line.  If I saw my kid intentionally vandalizing someone's property there would be some swats along with the lesson.

Agreed. But one can't help but wonder how often complaints like these fall on deaf ears to the point people do things such as electrifying the sign. I, personally, would have never done such a thing. I can't imagine had I made some mistake in the wiring and I would have killed the thief by accident, even worse, a 9 year old.

Possibly, and I'm sure every democrat trial lawyer is lined up. The kid is lucky, he should have trespassed from the property, and his father should have been arrested for having this kid do this.  The little punk got what was coming to him, maybe he will now think twice before committing another crime, maybe it will prevent one in the future.

Not really.  I'm sure if you talked to him he would repeated "change, change, change".

Maybe.  It shows one person won't be a continual victim, and another might just be happy with it.

The kid did need to be punished, although I don't find shocking a 9 year old particularly safe or funny (and no, I don't usually find it funny when kids get hurt, sorry).

My question is, did the guy KNOW it was a child doing it or did he set this up, just hoping to ward off whomever it was?  And I do agree that it's likely the parents were onboard in at least capacity.

If he knew ahead of time that it was a child, there are definitely better ways to handle the problem.  If he had no idea and was just hoping to discourage future theft from whomever the thief/theives might be, then I don't think it's quite as sinister.

OH GOOD LORD you people make me sick to my stomach.

The fact that you could condone, nay, defend it is disgusting.

The guy should have just cut the kid's hand off, SC.  That's the punishment for theft, right?

I'm curious, why do you find it disgusting? Because it was a child who got shocked or because he set out to shock anyone who touched the sign? I ask only because I have to wonder if you also find disgusting if you have a dog to protect your yard and a child happens to get in the yard and gets hurt by the dog. Again, I am not condoning the idea of hurting the child, but I think some reactions are too exagerated. This wasn't the smartest thing for this man to do but apart from probably being frustrated because he probably complained and it fell on deaf ears, I doubt he would have done this knowing it was a child who would get shocked, though I won't ignore he could have known. Had this been an adult, most people would probably be laughing and saying "he deserves it".

Looks to me like a gag that went too far. 

Switching signs is more of a harmless gag that the owner took a bit personal.  Granted I would get upset as well but there are other creative ways to play this game with out harming someone with electricity.

just my 2 kygyz soms.

Sorry, but I have raised my kids to know right from wrong, so your point is not valid with me. 

The person was an electrical engineer, and the dog fence supply wouldn't do anything but give a slight jolt, just enough to get attention. 

He didn't break a law.  Someone tresassed onto his property to commit a crime, he really hold no liability.  Depending on where you live, the owner could have taken matters into his own hands with more serious consequences.