February 15, 2007
If It's Snowy & Slushy, There May Be Electrocutions
A Boston terrier died yesterday while walking on Rector Street, seemingly from an electrical shock. The dog, named Boston Bob, was being walked by his dog-walker when he stepped on a sidewalk near a manhole. The NY Times reports the 16 pound dog "suddenly lifted his paws, yelped in pain and went limp in the dog walker’s arms." And the dog walker told a witness that Bob was bleeding after the shock.
Pet store owner Tazz Latifi tried to give the dog CPR for 20 minutes, but the Battery Park Veterinary Hospital declared him dead. Bob's owner, Beth Boyer, told the Daily News that Bob was healthy during a recent checkup. She also said the dog had been a gift from her fiance and that the dog was going to be part of their wedding. Boyer added that her roommate's cat (and Bob's playmate) had recently died, telling the Times, "This is the worst Valentine's Day."
Con Ed said they checked for stray voltage in the area, but found none. The utility also said the manhole cover didn't belong to them; the DEP, which apparently does own the manhole, says they don't think the manhole was the cause of the shock. Con Ed says that stray voltage can come and go. Boyer, though, was furious with Con Ed, telling the Daily News, "Something like this seems to happen every winter. They need some sort of solution for this."
In 2004, graduate student Jodie Lane died after being shocked in the East Village. Since then, there have been many incidents of people (here's another) and dogs being shocked. In fact, last year, a dog was electrocuted to death in Brooklyn; Con Ed initially denied they were at fault, but it turned out that they were to blame. And uptown, a dog was shocked at First Avenue near 80th. Con Ed did detect stray voltage there and repaired it.
Semi-related update: A manhole exploded in Brooklyn, causing the evacuation of a day care center. Per 1010WINS: "Con Edison says smoldering cables caused a fire in the manhole, and the resulting blast."
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hot foot .
No more electrocuted people and dogs who have done nothing more than walk in the winter. This is just ridiculous. Note to ConEd and the DEP: STFU and fix the problem.
RIP Boston Bob.
Fixing a problem like that requires major major $$$$. I think they would have to basically replace all of the old utilities in the entire city. It sucks, but the choices really are keep your electricty bill the same and have sporadic blackouts when it is hot in the summer and occasional stuff like this in the winter or pay a lot more on your monthly bill to replace an electrical system that works properly 99.9% of the time.
wow, reality, with sentiments like that, it's a wonder how George Bush got elected twice, global warming accelerated, and we got mired in Iraq.
"Fuck it, as long as it don't cost me nothin' more, don't fix it."
Hey.. when it's time to go, it's time to go. Dogs can die from eating chocolate for god's sake!
People can die from eating peanuts. Why bother doing anything ever?
Has Con-Ed released an actual statement regarding this?...besides "it's an errant current"?
This is nuts.
Hey Leslie, are you a Christian Scientist or something? "When it's time to go it's time to go?" So you must not ever go to the doctor, right? Or wear a seatbelt? Or chew before swallowing? Or does your laissez faire attitude apply only to dogs?
There is no electricity used in sewers -- they work by gravity. So even if it was a sewer cover the electricity still had to come from somewhere else.
I don't want to seem callous, but... her dog was going to walk her down the aisle? Are you freaking serious?
Manholes are NOT necessarily sewers, Spud.
A Manhole is NOT necessarily a sewer, Spud.
goodbye boston bob!! LOL..what's one less mutt in the world anyway?
what's one less fat spic in the world?
reality: we already pay more per kilowatt hour (because of many taxes) than anywhere else in the country, and use half the electricity of those in the suburbs. where the fuck is all the money going, and why should we have to put up with this shit?
wow, reality, with sentiments like that, it's a wonder how George Bush got elected twice, global warming accelerated, and we got mired in Iraq.
"Fuck it, as long as it don't cost me nothin' more, don't fix it."
You know that part in Fight Club where they talk about Cost of a Recall = x and Number of Affected people X Average Lawsuit Settlement = y? If x
This is that, only on a larger scale. They're not going to undertake the cost of overhauling the entire utility system when it kills five or six out of 8 million people every year.
Where's all the money going? Think about it. The suburbs aren't as densely built up as the city. It's easy to put up utility poles. It's damned expensive to go through thousands of cables in hundreds of conduits under any given street. Go back and look at that Gothamist post last year about what's under city streets.
Tom's point is exactly the same point I made about some woman wanting to spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to put up lots of barriers on Park Avenue just because her boyfriend was killed by a car there.
and why should we have to put up with this shit?
Because you will and you have to. If they decided to triple the price of power tomorrow, what are you going to do?
This should be taken seriously . On that particular day it was an animal . The next time it could be a person .