A Pennsylvania couple was arrested Monday night after motorists spotted them allegedly transporting their 10-year-old daughter inside a dog cage on the back of a pickup.

The Pittsburgh Tribune reported on Tuesday that the child’s mother, 29-year-old Abbey Carlson and stepfather, 30-year-old Thomas Fishinger, were charged with endangering the welfare of a child after police reached them at their home in Millvale, Pennsylvania.

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Fishinger allegedly told police the girl asked to be put in the cage along with the family dog while driving back from his mother’s house. Motorists alerted state troopers after seeing the pickup riding on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. State police then alerted authorities in Millvale.

One motorist posted a picture of the girl in the cage on Reddit, saying, “We called the cops multiple times and gave them the mile marker we were on. Also sent photos.”

[Image: “Very Danger Staffordshire Bull Terrier in A Cage” via Shutterstock]