Couple Says They're Getting Death Threats Over 'Joke' Facebook Photo

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — A Riverside couple who posted a picture of their dog with a plastic bag over its head on Facebook says they're getting death threats.

Stevi Green and her partner Amanda Beals posted the picture of 12-year-old Ziggy and thought they would get a lot of laughs.

Green tells CBS2's Brittney Hopper that the death threats are no laughing matter.

Both women insist the picture was a joke and they treat  Ziggy very well.

"I almost treat him better than I treat myself," says Green, "he's my baby. Literally, he's my baby -- in every sense of the word."

The picture on Facebook sparked a nationwide outrage. Riverside County Animal Services was inundated with calls to investigate the owners. (The couple took the dog to be checked out. A veterinarian there tells Hopper Ziggy looked just fine.)

Dozens of comments on Facebook called Green and her partner "animal abusers" and worse.

"I'm sure the puppy didn't find it funny as it gasped for air," said one.

Green says Ziggy is partially blind, got into a zip lock baggie that had chicken in it and they snapped the photo thinking it was cute..

"The very next picture on the pages, he's got chicken all over his face and it was really just a funny moment between the three of us," says Green.

The women acknowledge the picture could be misinterpreted but Green insists she would "never" hurt her dog or put him in harms way.

Green told Hopper they just want the threats and harassment to cease.

"It's just like cyber bullying. They're being big bullies and its not okay," says Green.