Editorial: Latest worry for Chicagoans is electrocuted dogs

Chicago Tribune

06-03-2025

Chicago does not have a city charter, more's the pity. If it did, we'd favor some aspirational freedoms for its citizens. Freedom from being the victim of violent crime would be one.
For another, how about the freedom to walk your dog on the streets of Chicago without worrying that your beloved pooch might get … electrocuted?
We jest not. In mid-February, two dogs were shocked while walking over an electrified manhole cover in the 600 block of North Dearborn Street in the city's River North neighborhood. One dog died. There was a similar February incident on the city's West Side, near the Claremont dog park in the Tri-Taylor neighborhood, after a dog came in contact with a city light pole.
In the case of the Dearborn Street incidents, which first were met with much waffling and buck-passing and owner blame, the cause was eventually revealed to be a pinched electrical wire, per Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd. A city crew was dispatched to fix the problem. But too late for at least one dog.
It got worse. Block Club reported earlier this week that multiple dogs belonging to residents of the downtown apartment building Wolf Point East were being shocked by a metallic strip in front of the building and still were not satisfied that corrective steps had been taken. Residents were saying more than a dozen dogs had been shocked.
It's true that weather conditions can contribute to these issues and that cautious owners always are best advised to keep dogs away from any and all potential contact with live electrical current in the great outdoors.
But let's be clear. A dog should be free to walk over a Chicago manhole cover or out its own front door without current shooting through its pores, traumatizing the dog's owner, let alone the dog itself. And, in a city filled with dog lovers, this whole troubling business is worthy of some serious citywide examination and mitigation by Commonwealth Edison, the city of Chicago and private building owners.
Owners deserve to have confidence in their pets' safety. The city was right to encourage residents to report any locations with 'stray voltage' through its 311 hotline, but then the city also has a responsibility to prevent 'stray voltage' (an Orwellian bit of language, implying that voltage just likes to take a walk) from occurring in the first place.
Dogs are Chicagoans too. Imagine if they had lobbyists.