{"id":1214,"date":"2012-06-11T20:29:01","date_gmt":"2012-06-12T00:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=1214"},"modified":"2012-06-12T13:47:44","modified_gmt":"2012-06-12T17:47:44","slug":"coatesville-cancer-survivor-mourns-dogs-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=1214","title":{"rendered":"Coatesville cancer-survivor mourns dog’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authorities said ‘Woogie Woo’ was set on fire after he died, likely from asphyxiation<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/span><\/strong>, Managing Editor, CoatesvilleTimes.com<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cora Brown shares remembrances of "Woogie Woo," her beloved Yorkie-poo, which was killed and set on fire. To her right is Craig Baxter, an animal control officer for the Chester County SPCA.<\/p><\/div>\n

A Coatesville woman said when she was diagnosed with stage-two breast cancer, a Yorkie-poo nicknamed \u201cWoogie Woo\u201d became one of her lifelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was lying down sick on the floor, he was there for me,\u201d \u00a0said Cora Brown, struggling to hold back tears. \u201cHe was my companion, he was my best friend \u2026 I\u2019m still in shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown, who appeared with officials from the Chester County SPCA at a press conference this afternoon, said she received a distraught call from relatives on Saturday while she was in Baltimore. They said police had found the charred remains of a dog that matched Woogie\u2019s description. She said Woogie had slipped out of the house on Friday when a construction crew was doing work and hadn\u2019t returned, which was unusual.<\/p>\n

The news hit her hard, she said. \u201cI really don\u2019t want to believe it \u2026 I\u2019m hoping this is a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities said police were called at 2:37 a.m. to the 300 block of Coates Street, a remote area that is not within view of any homes for the report of what had appeared from a distance to be a trash fire.\u00a0Craig Baxter, an animal control officer for the Chester County SPCA, said a necropsy performed at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s New Bolton Center indicated the dog had been placed in three plastic bags, doused with a chemical, and set on fire after it had died, likely from asphyxiation, he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rich Britton, a spokesman for the Chester County SPCA, holds a photo of Prince Wooga Wooga Brown.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although the examiner found no sign of blunt trauma or strangulation, 90 percent of the dog\u2019s body was burned, Baxter said, adding that final test results are expected tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Rich Britton, a spokesman for the Chester County SPCA, said the agency has posted a $2,500 reward for information that leads to a conviction. He said a private donor, Thomas G. Hickey Sr., the founder of an animal-welfare website, has promised $1,000, bringing the total reward to $3,500.<\/p>\n

Brown, a widow for 17 years, said the dog was a graduation present for her daughter in June 2008. She said they went to see some puppies that were a mix of Yorkshire terrier and poodle in Lancaster County and \u201cthe runt of the litter walked over and licked her daughter\u2019s face.\u201d The deal was sealed, she said, and the dog had to come home with them.<\/p>\n

Woogie\u2019s full name was Prince Wooga Wooga Brown, she said. He stayed with her when her daughter left home. \u201cHe became a family member,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Like a child, he knew that when he was addressed by his full name, the caller meant business and he better respond, she recalled, adding that he had a well-deserved reputation as a ladies man. \u201cHe loved big women,\u201d she said, explaining that he made regular visits to three girlfriends in the neighborhood. \u201cEveryone loved Woogie; he was the community pet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown said she hopes whoever committed this \u201cheartless and cruel act\u201d will turn themselves in and get the help they need. \u201cI just pray this person doesn\u2019t do this to someone else\u2019s dog,\u201d she said. Dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, she added: \u201cI miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call the SPCA at 610-692-6113, ext. 226, or Coatesville police at 610-384-2300.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authorities said ‘Woogie Woo’ was set on fire after he died, likely from asphyxiation By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, CoatesvilleTimes.com A Coatesville woman said when she was diagnosed with stage-two breast cancer, a Yorkie-poo nicknamed \u201cWoogie Woo\u201d became one of her lifelines. \u201cWhen I was lying down sick on the floor, he was there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[381,372,24,380,379],"class_list":["post-1214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-cancer-survivor","tag-chester-county-spca","tag-coatesville","tag-reward","tag-yorkie-poo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}