SPOKANE, Wash. – As the Spokane City Council works to pass a new ordinance for heated sidewalk regulations, the man who inspired “Hank’s Law” has welcomed changes of his own after a tragic accident back in February took his dog’s life.
Zach Harper's dog, Hank, died unexpectedly four months ago when stray voltage on a heated sidewalk electrocuted him. Harper and strangers on the street tried to help, but nothing could be done.
"You can't ever prepare for anything like what I went through,” Harper said. “And as I always stated, it was just a tragic set of circumstances."
Though Hank is gone, Harper is reminded of him everyday.
"I have a picture of him that sits on my dresser so I see it every morning. I think about him everyday, yeah. But again, it's just a process of moving forward and accepting the sad situation I was in and moving forward the best way I can,” Harper said.
He decided to move forward by opening his heart to two new miniature golden doodles.
"There's a lot to be said about coming home to an empty house without an animal,” Harper said. “Now having two, it's really fun."
He named his new dogs after his favorite childhood show, “Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers.”
"Chip, who's very rambunctious and he's the licker - one of them loves to give kisses and lick your face all over. The other doesn't really care to so they're different even in that aspect,” Harper said. “They've done a really good job at helping me move forward and filling that void that I felt back in February."
Now with Chip and Dale at his side, and Hank close to his heart, there's one last step to finding peace. The Spokane City Council is working on an ordinance that will update regulations for heated sidewalks.
"They've dubbed it Hank’s Law, which I think is really special to me. That was really one of my largest pieces of my message was I wanted something to change so no one has to deal with this or through this again,” Harper said.