A woman who taped her dog's mouth shut and uploaded a photo of it to Facebook has been found guilty of animal cruelty.

Katharine Lemansky was handed a 60-day jail sentence, suspended for one year, but will be allowed to keep the animal after police found it was otherwise well-cared-for.

Lemansky, also known as Katie Brown, sparked outrage with the social media post, which was shared hundreds of thousands of times late last year.

It was captioned: "This is what happens when you don’t shut up!!!"

Lemansky insisted the post was a joke, and even defended it in a follow-up on Facebook saying: "Don't panic everyone it was only for a minute but hasn't barked since… POINT MADE!!!"

She told the court in Wake County, North Carolina, the duct tape had only been on the dog for 15-20 seconds.

Lemansky said taping the dog's mouth was a joke (Facebook/Katie Brown)

Police said Lemansky's dogs were otherwise well-cared-for (Facebook/Katie Brown)

Lemansky will be subject to regular visits from a probation officer (Facebook/Katie Brown)

Police who attended the home not long after the incident said the pet, a chocolate lab-mix named Brown, showed no lasting signs of physical harm.

Nonetheless, district judge Jackie Brewer said: "This is one of those cases where a picture's worth a thousand words."

Police captain Randall Rhyne said taping Brown's muzzle shut was "a terrible decision on Ms Lemansky's part".