Dog owner seeks change after his Labrador Retriever was electrocuted on a DC sidewalk

WASHINGTON — It's been just over two months since Ben Mason lost his 5-year-old Labrador Retriever, Chili, in a freak accident.

"I had brought her from our home in Virginia Beach to be with my daughter who was having surgery, who was kind of the second parent for Chili, and they were able to sleep together that night," said Mason. "Then I took her for a nice fun walk through D.C. and unfortunately found this pot of electricity."

Chili collapsed on the sidewalk. 

"We had a physician who was helping us there and that's one of the ways we picked up that it was electricity because he reached down to test Chili's pulse and that's why we discovered it wasn't a natural situation with Chili," said Mason. "It was caused by the electricity."

A second dog was killed walking that same sidewalk about three hours later.

Pepco told WUSA9 a faulty underground cable, combined with melting snow, de-icing salt and debris, energized the sidewalk on 19th Street Northwest.

Pepco's full statement is below:

On Jan. 6, 2025, Pepco responded to two separate reports of injured dogs near 1140 19th St. NW. After thoroughly investigating the area, Pepco identified the presence of voltage and promptly made the necessary repairs to ensure safety. Our thoughts remain with the pet owners affected by this situation.

After the incident, Pepco conducted a comprehensive investigation to identify the cause, gathering insights from industry peers and third-party experts. The investigation revealed a fault in a degraded secondary cable. While this degraded cable alone would not lead to voltage entering the environment, when combined with melting snow, de-icing salt, and debris in the manhole, it created a highly conductive environment. This condition resulted in the sidewalk and nearby objects becoming energized.

Contact voltage is rare at Pepco but can occur if there are faulty conditions, leading to electrical current flowing through nearby metal objects, such as manhole lids or grates. Both stray voltage and contact voltage can be transmitted through grates, manhole covers, streetlights, and traffic signals.

Pepco inspects manholes and other infrastructure regularly for stray and contact voltage. Inspections are conducted by a third-party contractor and as part of their entry procedure they test the cover and/or grate for voltage. If voltage is ever identified on a Pepco manhole cover, it is prioritized for immediate resolution.

Our top priority is the safety of our customers, communities, and employees. As a result of this incident Pepco, working with Osmose an industry recognized leader in stray and contact voltage detection, conducted a 131 linear mile voltage detection sweep of downtown DC over the course of four nights to identify additional voltage issues. The sweep returned no stray or contact voltage on any of the company’s infrastructure. Pepco will continue to proactively review and enhance its response procedures to prevent voltage incidents. We are updating our reporting systems and training programs to continue to build on established practices for inspecting, detecting, and addressing stray and contact voltage issues.

“I didn't like how it was couched and that, it referred to two injured dogs and of course, I know all too well that it was one of my dogs that was fatally electrocuted," said Mason after reading the statement. “We just miss her. Any dog we pass, we take pictures of that dog and say, oh, she looks like Chili, or she acts like Chili, but she's not quite Chili”

Mason says he appreciates Pepco taking responsibility and says he’d like to work with them to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“I mean, it could be a person who put their hand down because they had to break a fall or something like that," said Mason. "We need to do whatever we can to, you know, not let these wires get exposed and You know, be extra cautious, I guess, when you do have the water, the salt, and the electricity being near you."

Mason says he’s considered taking legal action.

“I would hope it does not come to that, but there's been so many people that have suggested that just for Chili's sake and for our family's sake and for the community's sake that maybe it's a thing to do, but at this point I have not planned on it," he said.