A caged dog was set on fire in West Brandywine Township, Chester County, on Friday night, three months after a similar fatal attack in Coatesville.
According to a statement by the county Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Wagontown Fire Chief Todd Ziegler was driving on Mansion Road about 8 p.m. Friday, when he spotted what looked like a brush fire near Route 340. He discovered the burning body of a dog in a caged crate and called his department, which put out the fire.
Details about the dog were being withheld pending a necropsy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine at the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square.
On June 9, the charred remains of a Yorkshire terrier mix between 3 and 5 years old was found in a trash bag in the 300 block of Coates Street in Coatesville. The 15- to 20-pound dog with silver, black and blond hair had suffocated in the bag.
There's a $5,000 reward fund for information leading to an arrest and conviction in that case, SPCA spokesman Rich Britton said Saturday.
Tips about both attacks can be reported anonymously by calling the SPCA at 610-692-6113, ext. 213, or by sending an e-mail to cruelty@ccspca.org.
Contact Bill Reed at 215-801-2964, or wreed@philly.com, for follow on Twitter @breedbucks. Read his blog, "BucksInq," at www.philly.com/bucksinq.
