Denise Buffa's Statement
– at the Stray Voltage Protest at Marcus Garvey Park on June 8, 2008
I am here to announce we have filed a lawsuit against Con Ed and the City for damages due to negligence that led to the death of my dog -- a 100-pound Mastiff -- one year ago. This lawsuit is not about money. New York State law provides for only the market value of a pet -- not the true value of one, like other states. In other words, my total compensation could be limited to the cost of getting another Mastiff. Forget the pain and suffering. He was just a dog, according to the law.
But Mushy was invaluable to me. He was not just a dog. He was my constant companion. My protector. My best friend. Mushy was the anchor in the life I've carved for myself in this, my native city, which in all its glory can at times be quite cold and lonely. He was the one who greeted me at the door at night with a gift -- a ball or some other toy -- after a hard day’s work. He was the one who danced with me in my living room when I sang. He was the one who allowed me to walk to the corner store at 3 in the morning with no fear. He was the one who stood by my side when I cried on my couch lamenting over life's miseries. He was the one who listened to all my problems without offering a bit of unsolicited advice.
Make no mistake. If anyone offered me a million dollars or Mushy back, I'd take Mushy. It's the principle of the matter. Mushy was an icebreaker. It was because of him that I met so many people. They were drawn to him because he was nothing but a big mush -- hence the name. Unless, of course, someone messed with his mama! He was fun-loving. He enjoyed camping in the mountains: the Adirondacks and the Berkshires.
The city parks -- including Morningside Park and Central Park – provided both of us with a breath of fresh air from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.
Each morning, we'd go to the dog run here, at Marcus Garvey Park. That was our ritual. Mushy and I were walking past this very spot at 6:30 a.m. June 6, 2007, when the unspeakable happened. One minute he was running like a deer -- free as a bird -- at the end off his extension leash. The next, he was frozen in his tracks on wet pavement next to that lamp post. Immediately, I suspected he was being electrocuted. I remembered Jodie Lane, the 30-year-old woman senselessly shocked to death in 2004 as she was walking her dogs in the East Village. I pulled Mushy to safety with the help of his leash.
As Mushy received medical treatment, Con Ed found stray voltage in the area. Nine hours after he was shocked, my constant companion, my protector, my best friend was dead. A senseless slaughter of an innocent creature capable of something no human being can provide: unconditional love.
Our parks are supposed to be oases in our great metropolis -- not war zones riddled with hidden electrical land mines. People have told me Mushy gave his life for me. I believe it. While Con Ed minimizes the threat of stray voltage, Roger Lane, Jodie Lane's father, who oversees the Jodie Lane Safety Foundation, reports that one stray voltage was, on average, found on every block in Manhattan last year. This has got to stop.
Do not fool yourselves, my fellow New Yorkers. You are not safe.
The day Mushy died, Con Ed workers confided in me they do not walk on manhole covers. They don't even park their personal cars over metal grates. They know the danger. Con Ed officials boast that they've spent $100 million to eradicate stray voltage. That's a drop in the bucket. That's not even 1 percent of their total revenue: $12 billion. That's billion with a "b." Pure greed. No respect for life. It's time Con Ed put its money where its mouth is.
The city, also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, is responsible for maintaining lamp posts in public parks. A neighbor reports that city employees were working on this pole the night before Mushy's morning death march.
But Jodie Lane 's death apparently wasn't enough to get their attention. And Mushy's execution wasn't either. Just recently, in Queens, Celia Sing had to suffer the same preventable pain that pierced my heart and changed my life a year ago. She lost her Siberian Husky, her "boy," Sebastian, to stray voltage in Long Island City.
How many more people, how many more pets have to give their lives to make this point clear?
Yesterday it was Jodie Lane. Then, it was Mushy. Today, it's Sebastian. Tomorrow, it could be you or your pet -- or worse yet, your kid. When are they going to get the message -- and take it seriously? When the mayor gets shocked? When the head of Con Ed gets jolted? Or when someone in their family does?
Apparently, our senseless suffering hasn’t been enough.
Thank you.