Electric Fence

In the 1930s Alfred William (Bill) Gallagher (b. 1911, d. 1990) developed a plan to keep his horse Joe from scratching itself on the family car (an Essex, incidentally). Mr Gallagher cunningly connected the car to an electrical supply. When the horse rocked the car, looking to for a good scratch, a triggering device sent a current through the car, and through Joe. It worked. Animals will go to as great lengths as we will to avoid electric shocks. Mr Gallagher did not go on to patent his electric car protector (we can only speculate why not - perhaps because it was total overkill), but he did begin experimenting with electrified fences - and not just around cars - around paddocks