Dog killed by stray voltage from pole

 

Celia Sing was devastated by the tragic death of Sebastian (below).

Sebastian, a Siberian Husky, was just doing his business on a Queens light pole when a fatal jolt of electricity shot through him, leaving his terrified owner heartbroken.

"All I did was take him for a walk," said Celia Sing, 50. "I haven't slept since this whole thing happened. I'm a walking zombie. I close my eyes and I still see him shaking."

Sing took the 7-year-old pooch she rescued as a pup for a walk about 12:50 a.m. on Sunday near her Long Island City apartment, across the street from the animal shelter where she volunteers.

"He just dropped and started shaking uncontrollably," said Sing, a civilian employee of theNYPD for 14 years. "He died in front of me. Why did my boy die?"

Sebastian now sits in a freezer at the Humane Society as Sing wades through the red tape to get answers. Con Edison referred her to the Department of Transportation, but because of the holiday weekend, she has been unable to speak with anyone there.

Meanwhile, DOT employees replaced the light pole Monday.

"We're still trying to determine the cause of the stray voltage at the location," a DOT spokesmansaid. "Our engineers have made it safe. Safety is our top priority."

Her first concern was for other pet owners, butSing is now trying to raise the funds for an autopsy for her companion over the past 49 dog years.

"He was my baby," she said. "I don't have kids. He was my boy."

Last August, a Labrador retriever survived a shock from a wet Con Ed manhole in SoHo, which again drew attention to the problem of stray voltage throughout the city.

In 2004, Jodie Lane was killed by stray voltage while walking her dog in the East Village.

 Story written by Kerry Bruke and Ethan Rouen of the NY Local Daily News