Stray street voltage electrocutes dog

Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth Morton woke up this morning to a quiet household, absent the playful noises of her beloved dog Oscar, a 115-pound yellow Labrador she had groomed from puppydom.

As Elizabeth and her father walked him in the rain around 8 p.m. Tuesday, the 6-year-old dog started yelping and writhing and collapsed on the sidewalk at Warren and Winthrop streets in Charlestown. He appeared to have been electrocuted.

Neighbors quickly gathered, and people who tried to lift Oscar felt small electrical jolts.

While NStar acknowledged yesterday that their system might have contributed to the dog's death, neighbors said that they have complained about the electricity problem in the past and that it should have been dealt with sooner.

NStar officials were repairing what they labeled a "hot spot," a portion of the corner that was alive with 100 volts of electricity, according to a troubleshooter at the site, who declined to be named.

He said hot spots are not uncommon this time of year because the salt used to de-ice the sidewalks serves as a conductor. The salt also has been known to eat through wiring and electrify metal grates -- as it did recently in the death of a New York woman.

The death of Oscar and several similar incidents reflect a problem for cities where bad weather requires the use of salt near electrical outlets, but Lisa Timberlake, a spokeswoman for Boston Inspectional Services, said she thinks Oscar's death was an anomaly.

"This was a terrible accident. We're very sorry about the dog. But this is an NStar issue. We asked them to provide us with a report. Water leaked into the circuit. We're not concerned this is a larger problem. We believe this was an accident." The electrical line that triggered Oscar's death runs 2 or 3 feet underground and carries about 120 volts, which is regular voltage for a household, NStar officials said.

"It was enough to electrocute a dog," the NStar troubleshooter said. "It's hard to say what it could do to a person."

In a statement last night, NStar spokeswoman Christina McKenna said there may have been a short circuit in a cable that had been abandoned beneath the street. "It appears it energized the area around it. The wet weather . . . likely created a path for the electricity, with which the dog appeared to come in contact."

McKenna said she had "never heard of anything like this."

She said it is unusual that the stray voltage would be picked up over the pavement.

"We have no indication at all that this is a larger problem, but we're doing everything we can to investigate this as thoroughly as we can. . . . We're very concerned about it," she said.

It has happened before.

Neighbors said they've seen other dogs electrocuted on the same corner. Warren Street resident Lydia Locke, 36, said she avoids walking on the corner where Warren and Winthrop streets intersect. She said she witnessed another dog being shocked in February 2003 at the same spot.

"There has got to be some negligence there," Locke said.

In February 2000, a another dog died at Shawmut Avenue and West Newton Street in the South End. A 65-pound red vizsla was electrocuted as his owner walked him over a manhole. At that time, Julie Fothergill of the city's Inspectional Services Department called it a "highly unusual and freak accident."

In New York City last month, Jodie Lane, 30, was electrocuted when she walked her dog on East 11th Street. The electrified plate that killed her registered 57 volts. In response to Lane's death, Con Edison conducted a citywide sweep and found 110 hot spots -- with 30 of the areas charged with more than 50 volts.

For Oscar's family and the Charlestown neighbors who have rallied behind the Mortons, these accidents raise concerns about the city's ability to address the problem. "The sad thing is that this has been ignored," George Morton, Elizabeth's father, said yesterday. "It took this tragedy for it to be recognized -- thank God it wasn't a kid. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved now. But the emotional angle here is that there's a 13-year-old girl who lost her puppy."

Jennifer Smartt, who was on her way home from work Tuesday when she saw a group huddled around the dog, said she was angered by the city and NStar's slow reaction to residents' concerns. "What got Charlestown upset is that we made all these calls and no one responded."

"Nobody seemed to want to help," added Morton, who said he called NStar after the electrocution, but no one showed up.

McKenna said troubleshooters were sent to the scene late Tuesday, but found no one.

"We next heard about it (yesterday) morning from the city. We were told a dog was electrocuted," she said.

"First and foremost, it's a tragedy, but there's a greater issue of the infrastructure in the city," said Smartt. "People need to be responded to, and that didn't happen at that time."

NStar officials offered condolences and restitution to the Mortons yesterday, but no agreement had been reached last night.

An official from the mayor's office also contacted the family.

"We all agree you can't replace a lost pet, but we have discussed some things to let the owner know how sorry we are and how we can replace his loss," McKenna said. "We also want to reassure the neighbors of Charlestown that the stray voltage problem has been corrected. The area has been made safe. We're conducting a thorough investigation to find out what happened."

But for Elizabeth, a week after her 13th birthday, nothing can replace the silly, playful puppy she grew up with.

"He always greeted you at the door," the Boston Latin Academy student said. "Carrots were his favorite snack."