CHICAGO — A large dog was killed in River North on Saturday afternoon when it apparently made contact with an electrified manhole cover, according to witnesses and other officials. People who work and live in the area believe other dogs have been shocked at the same location recently.
“We were inside working and heard several yelps. By the time we were notified a dog was deceased outside, it was too late to start CPR otherwise we would have,” said Kristen A., who also posted about the incident on Nextdoor. “Several bystanders were kind enough to stay with the young gentleman who owned the dog who was inconsolable.”
“We covered the dog with a sheet until the police arrived. The rest of the family arrived and were even more inconsolable, understandably,” Kristen explained. She said the police helped the family place the dog in their car.
Shortly after the dog was killed, the fire department responded to a report of a city street light pole on fire across the street from where the incident occurred, but it is unclear if the incidents were related.
A ComEd spokesperson said the incident involved a “non-ComEd owned manhole,” but its crews responded to provide support while the incident was investigated.
Kristen said workers opened an electrical box, but she said she didn’t know what they did. People continued to come and go on the sidewalk, which was not closed to foot traffic.
“We ended up putting signs on the box since we are still unclear if the problem has been fixed.”
While Chicago police responded to the scene and requested a response from the city’s Bureau of Electricity, a CPD spokesperson said they had no information about the matter. We sent inquiries to other city departments over the weekend and await replies.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that the fire involved a city light pole, not an electrical pole.
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