Facebook Photo Leads To Arrest: Dog In Ziploc Bag Causes Police To Charge Mother And Son [PHOTO]

A mother and son in Albuquerque, N.M., who posted a photograph on Facebook of a live puppy inside a Ziploc bag have been arrested for felony animal cruelty.

Mary Snell, 44, is seen smiling as she holds the freezer bag containing a puppy, and its head is in a small bottom corner of the bag. Snell claimed that she and her son were trying to show how small the latest addition to their family was, but police are calling it animal cruelty.

Her son, James Engel, 21, shared the photograph with friends this weekend on the social media site, and now he and his mother are facing felony animal cruelty charges after someone who saw the photo called authorities.

“A young puppy doesn’t have the ability to move its head to get to a fresh supply of oxygen so the way it was positioned in the bag they said it would’ve only taken a few seconds to actually cause the puppy to suffocate," Sgt. Aaron Williamson, of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Dept., told CBS-affiliate KRQE. "This was the perfect example of the community getting involved citizens seeing something on Facebook feeling that it wasn’t right and notifying law enforcement.”

Animal-care services said that the puppy is doing well and is now with another family member.

This isn't the first time an arrest has been made in connection with animal abuse after someone posted a photo or cryptic message on Facebook. Adrienne Martin was arrested in July after bragging on the social media site about killing her dog. Martin is accused of setting her three-year-old shepherd-terrier mix on fire in the backyard of her home and then posting status updates on Facebook such as “Im on killa mode….#killdogs.com….today..[sic]” She was later arrested and charged with two felony charges.