This sounds rather strange.
But, since when is a live fence, a "freak accident"?.
Also a short circuit in the neighbours house should not have livened the fence.
Really makes you wonder though, how on earth did the fence become live?
Was it because of a damaged underground cable?.
Jeff,
I came across some wires protruding from a wall last week down the Main Street in town and just out of curiosity, tested them with my meter.
And they were hot with 230V!.
Sure these wires were about 6ft above the ground, but I can't people that there are people around that are so stupid that they leave live wires exposed.
Imagine the uproar, if a child had grabbed that Utility wire instead of a dog!.
Some people just have no brains!.