**WARNING: The below photo is extremely graphic.**
A dog set on fire in East Germantown yesterday has died, a spokeswoman from the Pennsylvania SPCA said tonight.
The young female pit bull was found yesterday on the 700 block of Gray Street and brought to the city’s ACCT shelter. It had severe burns covering its entire body. Investigators said it appeared that someone had doused the dog with accelerant, set it ablaze and left it to die.
Due to the severity of its injuries, the dog, who shelter workers named Chloe, was transferred to the PSPCA’s shelter hospital, where it was evaluated and a cruelty investigation was launched. A $500 reward is being offered for information about the brutal crime.
“This is an extreme case of animal abuse,” the hospital’s head veterinarian Lisa Germanis said in a statement earlier today. “At this point, the next couple of days will be critical as to whether the dog is able to survive the injuries it endured.”
Though the dog was transferred to a specialty hospital run by PSPCA rescue partner Animal Alliance of New Jersey for intensive treatment, it succumbed to its injuries around 9:30 p.m., about an hour after it arrived.
“Despite the best efforts of the Pennsylvania SPCA’s veterinary staff and that of the Animal Alliance of NJ, Chloe was in great pain and died from her injuries,” PSPCA spokeswoman Wendy Marano said in a statement this evening.
An investigation conducted by PSPCA Humane Law Enforcement Officers has located the dog’s owner and revealed it was found relatively close to its home. Evidence was collected from what investigators believe to be the crime scene and is currently being processed.
Officers believe there were multiple witnesses to the incident and are asking anyone with information to call the PSPCA animal cruelty hotline at 1-866-601-SPCA.
“The Pennsylvania SPCA Humane Law Enforcement team will continue to diligently investigate [this] heinous crime and prosecute the person(s) responsible to the full extent of the law,” Marano said.
