Animal shelter rendered uninhabitable and cats killed by SUV which crashed into it

A mother of five crashed her SUV into the front of the Brandywine Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (BVSPCA) shelter . The vehicle mounted the high curb, crashed through the building, lodged itself inside the building and started a fire. Three cats and the woman were killed. The woman and cats appear to have been killed by the fire.

The woman was identified at the scene as Latoya Copper, 33, a mother of five. The accident happened at about 12:15 am.

Her mother said that she “felt something at two o’clock in the morning. I felt some kind of pain”.

The animal shelter was rendered unihabitable. The animals have been rehoused temporarily in shelters nearby.

The BVSPCA Facebook posting states:

We had a terrible loss overnight. A car crashed into our New Castle Campus building, starting a fire that took the lives of three cats and sent another cat to emergency care for burns and smoke inhalation. The other 98 animals were relocated to temporary housing and are being examined by medical personnel. The veterinary clinic was destroyed in the crash, and the shelter sustained significant damage. The facility will be closed for an undetermined period of time. The animals need your help during this tragedy. Please come out to our other three locations to adopt (Georgetown, DE; West Chester, PA; Dover, DE, PetSmart EAC) and donate to help cover the significant cost for animal care and recovery: https://fundly.com/bvspca-new-castle-campus-fire

Source: nbcphiladelphia.com/news/