CAIRO: Egyptian police have arrested and charged five people for animal cruelty, the Interior Ministry said.

In the first incidence, two people were held in Alexandria, northern Egypt, after a photo appeared on Facebook showing one of them holding a dog over the edge of a balcony.

They confessed to having committed the crime and will face legal action, the ministry said.

In the second incidence, three people were arrested after they posted a video clip on social media showing them torturing a cat.

After examining the video, the police arrested the torturer, cameraman as well as the publisher of the clip.

The trio are residents of Boulaq El-Dakrour in Giza Governorate.

Their mobile phones were discovered to contain video footage of the torture.

They confessed to the crime and were referred to legal authorities for further action.

In March, Egypt’s public prosecution ordered an investigation against a cafe worker in Cairo after a video clip surfaced showing him torturing cats. He later faced legal action.

An investigation revealed that he had committed the torture as a joke with friends for the purpose of uploading the clip on TikTok to attract views. The video was discovered on his mobile phone.

The public prosecution ordered the release of the accused, pending investigation, on a bail of 500 Egyptian pounds ($16).