Two people are in custody, and one is wanted by authorities in North Carolina for mutilating a cat and publishing the images of the dead cat on social media, police said.

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Shariah Jessamyn Metzger, 26, and Jace Lee Greene, 29, were arrested Monday on charges of improper burial of an animal, The Associated Press reported. Zackery Eugene Greene is wanted on the same charge, according to the Asheville Police Department.

The trio is accused of posting photos on Instagram of a cat that had been "strung up and sliced open, posed with needles in its body and drugs in its mouth," the AP reported.

In a post on its Facebook page, the Asheville Police Department said that the incident remains under investigation and additional charges may be possible after a necropsy on the cat is performed this week.

The cat's owner, Aaron Nastor, told WLOS that Kitty was two years old and the family's pet. He said the cat was sweet and trusting of people.

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo