下雪天溜狗要小心，别给电到！！

Dog Dies on a Downtown Sidewalk, Possibly Electrocuted

By ANTHONY RAMIREZ and EMILY VASQUEZ

A small dog being walked alonga downtown sidewalk yesterday was apparently electrocuted moments aftercrossing an icy manhole cover, according to a veterinarian who examinedthe animal after a dog-walker brought him in.

The police quickly cordoned off the sidewalk where the dog died, onRector Street near Greenwich Street. A crew from Consolidated Edisonbegan testing the area for stray voltage, but Con Ed officials couldnot immediately confirm that the manhole cover or another metal objectin the area had been electrified.

The dog, a 1-year-old 16-pound Boston terrier named Bob, wascrossing the manhole cover when he suddenly lifted his paws, yelped inpain and went limp in the dog walker's arms, according to SethEdelstein, owner of Walkee Doggie, the TriBeCa dog-walking company thatemploys the walker.

If the cause of Bob's death is determined to be electrocution, hisdeath would be the latest in a string of episodes in which pet ownersor their pets were harmed by stray voltage in metal plates or otherobjects on the city's streets and sidewalks.

The most serious accident occurred in 2004, when Jodie S. Lane, agraduate student, died while walking her two dogs on a wet street inthe East Village. The utility later found that a metal service plateMs. Lane had walked on had been accidentally electrified because ofinsufficient insulation.

Mr. Edelstein, who would not identify the dog walker, said she gavethe dog mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after Bob went limp. She calledthe police, then dashed to a nearby animal clinic. The two other dogsbeing walked were uninjured, he said.

At the clinic, the Battery Park Veterinary Hospital, a veterinarian, Mary Xanthos, said Bob was dead on arrival.

"It really sounded like an electrocution, " Dr. Xanthos said, notingthat the salt spread on sidewalks to melt ice can increase electricalconductiv ity.

Bob's owners, Beth Boyer, 33, a hospital nurse in Manhattan, and herfianc?, Joe Cardiello, 36, a funeral director from Paramus, N.J., saidthey were distraught by their pet's death. They said they had notdecided whether to have a necropsy performed to help determine cause ofdeath.

Ms. Boyer said Bob's death was especially wrenching because Bella, apet cat who belonged to Ms. Boyer's roommate, just died on Saturdayafter a long illness. The cat and the dog were best friends, she said,and often played together. They even looked alike, Bella's dark grayand white almost matching Bob's black and white coat.

"This is the worst Valentine's Day," Ms. Boyer said.

Cara Buckley contributed reporting.