Poop City

Callous Con Ed's denial of death

The Valentine’s Day electrocution of Bob, a young Boston Terrier who collapsed and died after walking over a Rector Street manhole cover, is already fading from the headlines. But he’ll be back the next time some poor person’s dog - or some dog’s poor person - happens upon a vein of “stray voltage” and is injured or killed.

Then Con Ed will assume its all-too-familiar Deny and Deflect posture, as if there could be some other reason why a healthy dog walking down the sidewalk would suddenly scream out in pain, begin bleeding from the feet, and fall over dead.

Our local utility played it by the numbers following Bob’s execution. Spokesman Chris Olert issued what was apparently intended as a definitive statement of his employer’s innocence: “We went down there and we found no stray voltage. None,” he was quoted as saying.

No stray voltage. None. That’s tellin’ ‘em, Olert. Except that while you were issuing your pronouncment, another Con Ed spokesperson, as well as workers on the scene, were pointing out that stray voltage comes and goes. So the fact that you found no stray voltage does not mean there wasn’t any to find. Rather, it merely verifies what so many New Yorkers have rightly come to believe: Con Edison can’t control the electricity coursing through this city. Rather than acknowledge its shortcomings and commit itself to correcting real and obvious problems, Con Ed prefers to issue heartless statements of denial as the bodies continue to pile up.

It’s cheaper that way, after all. Even when Jodie S. Lane was electrocuted in 2004, Con Ed paid out a mere $8.2 million - after first denying responsibility, of course. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of repairing all the outdated and worn out wiring that is said to be behind the “stray voltage” phenomenon. So instead of getting an overdue overhaul of the electrical system that New Yorkers have entrusted and paid Con Ed to maintain, they are betting their lives, and the lives of their beloved companion animals, on a slipshod system of hit-and-miss repairs, where lethal current may be there one minute and gone the next.

There one minute, gone the next. Like Bob.

Who’s next?

Sources: [NY1][NYS][NYT][NYDN][Gothamist]

Related:
- (Don't Step) On It. [Poop City]
- Bob's person adopts Lucky Lucy. [NYDN]
- Second dog shocked, revived. [NY1]

UPDATE 2/17:  More on Con Ed's slipshod hit-and-missery. Also, manhole covers are "overseen" by DEP. [NYT]

Photo: Boston Bob

(Don't Step) On It

Since winter seems to have finally arrived, it's a good time to reconsider what the cold means to our animal companions. In addition to (what should be) obvious advice - i.e. don't lock your dog in the garage with an idling automobile - Steve Dale tells us that small dogs, as well as some larger ones, should wear sweaters when outdoors in freezing temperatures (no word on kimonos). Dale even suggests doggy booties to protect feet from frostbite and street salt. As for felines, again with the obvious: "Of course, life is safer and far more comfortable indoors for cats" - a tip echoed by the ASPCA.

And as Con Ed gets a smack from the state (and a smooch from the mayor) for last summer's blackout, let us not forget the deadly "stray voltage" plague of last winter, which claimed the life of Barkis. If for no other reason than the incompetence of our local utility, maybe those booties are a good idea.

Photo: Tamara Hey