Con Edison set up cones and caution tape around several East Village manholes, tree pits and garden gates — but never bothered telling anyone it was because of stray voltage that has been zapping neighborhood pooches.
Dog owner Leslie Steven told The Post her beloved borzoi, Atticus Finch, was jolted twice on Sunday before she realized what was happening.
“He yelped and screamed in pain, and his heart was racing, and he was totally traumatized,” said Steven.
The neighborhood blog EV Grieve first reported that dogs walking with their owners along East Seventh Street between Avenues C and D were coming into painful, violent contact with electrified pavement and fixtures.
Caution tape and traffic cones went up last week on that block and on East Second Street between Avenues A and C, but the utility company didn’t leave any explanation for blocking them off.
“The thing I find the most unconscionable is that there was absolutely no signage,” Steven said. “I understand that Con Ed regularly has to deal with electrical leaks. What isn’t understandable is they totally did not inform the residents.”
She added that a site safety contractor just sat in his parked car and never engaged with or spoke to residents.
It took calls to 311, 911 and, finally, a visit from the NYPD before a Con Ed repair crew arrived, she said. And while cops were talking to the safety manager, a passing pit bull got jolted.
“The yellow tape is out there to keep people away from the energized objects,” Con Ed spokesman Allan Drury told The Post on Monday.
Con Ed workers discovered the problem early Friday but had limited access to the area because of tightly parked cars, he said.
Repairs were completed on East Seventh Street late Sunday, he said.
Another neighborhood dog, a black standard poodle named Maybelline, was zapped so violently on Sunday that her heart stopped temporarily, said the dog’s owner, Catherine Kord.
In 2004, Jodie Lane died while walking her two dogs in the East Village after stepping on a metal plate electrified by faulty wiring.
Drury wrote that such incidents have declined since Con Ed instituted new safety procedures in 2004.
Additional reporting by Amanda Lozada