The New York Times
February 4, 2001, Sunday
THE CITY WEEKLY DESK
NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: GREENWICH VILLAGE; An Unexpected Danger to Dogs Lurks on Snowy Streets
By DENNY LEE (NYT) 470 words
Floppy, an 11-year-old mixed beagle, was poking around a lamppost outside Christopher Park early last month when something poked back.
''She started jumping around and yipping like she was on hot coals,'' said Bonnie Slotnick, a cookbook shop owner who was walking the dog for a friend.
At first Ms. Slotnick thought that Floppy's tender paws were being irritated by the salt tossed down after a recent snowstorm. But when she picked up the beagle with her bare hands, Ms. Slotnick felt a faint electric current coursing through the dog's tiny body.
Floppy survived the shock, but Mark Kerr's 2-year-old brindle boxer, Zorro, was not so lucky. On Jan. 8, four days after the Floppy incident, Zorro was electrocuted near the same lamppost at Grove and West Fourth Streets.
''He made a few noises, quieted down a bit and flipped on his side,'' said Richard Drewes, a friend of Mr. Kerr who was walking Zorro. ''It was over in less than a minute.''
Police officers pronounced him dead at the scene.
Dog owners citywide have reported similar but milder shocks in recent weeks as sidewalks have been caked in alternating layers of snow and salt. Con Edison officials say that melting snow combined with road salt forms a conductive puddle that also erodes away wire insulation.
In Zorro's case, a live wire protruding from the nearby lamppost had formed an open current on the salty, wet pavement, according to the police report.
''Street lights use normal 110-volt household current, and moisture can sometimes cause leaks'' of electricity onto the sidewalk, said Brenda Perez, a spokeswoman for Con Edison. ''People wearing leather or rubber soles won't notice it, but animals will.''
Ms. Perez said that when incidents are reported, emergency crews are sent immediately to ''de-energize'' the source and repair the leak.
But Mr. Kerr contended that Con Edison could have prevented his dog's death if it had acted on an earlier complaint filed by Ms. Slotnick.
''The sad thing is that Con Ed was told about this before,'' said Mr. Kerr, a computer specialist. ''I'm going to call a lawyer. Zorro was the friendliest dog in the world.''
While the fatality was the first in recent memory, one Web site, Urbanhound.com, recently posted a winter ''survival guide'' advising dog owners to avoid sidewalk grates and lampposts after a snowstorm. The site also suggests that owners report hazards to (800) 75CONED, or (800) 752-6633. DENNY LEE
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