A mother and stepfather have been arrested after motorists saw a 10-year-old girl riding in a dog cage in the back of the family pickup truck.
Police made the arrests after getting reports from passing drivers who saw the girl riding in the back of the truck in the cage.
The incident happened at around 7pm Monday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Millvale, just outside Pittsburgh, U.S.
The girl's mother, 29-year-old Abbey Carlson, and stepfather, 30-year-old Thomas Fishinger, are now facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child.
According to police, Carlson and Fishinger told officers the girl had said she wanted to be with the small dog.
The child was not injured. Carson and Fishinger were released on bailed on Tuesday morning. They are due back in court June 6 for a preliminary hearing.
The arrest came after a motorist driving eastbound on the turnpike called state police just after 7pm to report seeing a girl caged along with a small dog in the bed of a passing pickup truck. Troopers received a second 911 call from another motorist a few minutes later.
Fishinger, who was driving the truck, told arresting officers during questioning that they were on their way home after spending Memorial Day weekend at his mother's home in Beaver County, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
According to Carlson's Facebook page, the family have at least two mixed breed dogs. In three of the photos posted on the page, a girl believed to be the couple's daughter is pictured playing in the snow with a gate separating her from one of the dogs.