NYC Officials Urge People and Pets to Avoid Manholes & metal grates
To the majority of New York residents the melting snow is a joy to see as they will no longer have treacherous sidewalks. However this celebration may be short lived as the melting snow is causing a danger to both pedestrians and pets. The reason for this is due to the de-icing salts mixed with the water from the melting snow as these two are perfect conductors for electricity and can lead to walking pedestrians and their pets getting shocked.
There have been several reports of dogs and their owners receiving shocks from sidewalk voltage this year. On the 14th of February this year a dog was fatally shocked by voltage outside of its owner’s apartment. “We were entering the building when Bella started acting funny, she let out a cry. She didn’t seem to want to go into the building. Then she went into a spasm and just laid there.”
This has not been the first time that pedestrians and their pets have been electrocuted by high voltage sidewalks. Back in 2007 two dogs were shocked two days apart while walking on New York sidewalks.
In 2004 a 30 year old graduate student was electrocuted and killed while walking on a wet street. It was later confirmed that a poorly insulated wire had caused the woman to be shocked.
The predicted warm weather with street flooding over the next few days it is likely to trigger more incidents of dogs and their owners receiving shocks. Residents of the city are urged to walk with caution and to avoid manhole covers, metal grates and sewer caps as well as scaffolding.
Last week several blocks of Sixth Avenue in Manhattan was closed after it was discovered there was an electrical malfunction that had caused sidewalk grates and doorknobs of buildings to become electrified.