Two men are arrested and charged after shocking pictures emerge showing the heartless suspects pouring BEER down a baby alligator's throat

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Two men have been charged with harassing a baby alligator after they forced the helpless animal's jaws open and made it drink beer.

Shocking images show the suspects prying the reptile's jaws open as they pour beer down its throat.

The two men captured the sickening act on  Snapchat before the images were uploaded to Facebook.

Joseph Andrew Floyd, 20, and Zachary Lloyd Brown, 21, both of Ridgeland, were each charged with harassment of an alligator, The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said on Friday.

They admitted to officers that they picked up the alligator after they saw it crossing the a public dirt road between Hardeeville and Tillman in Jasper County.  

Authorities in South Carolina have launched an investigation of an incident in which a young alligator was forced to drink beer, it was announced on Friday

The shocking photographs which were posted on Snapchat show an 18-to-20 inch alligator being held by an individual as its jaws are forced open and its throat tightly squeezed

The names of the people involved are being withheld because of the possibility that they may have included minors, authorities said 

They then poured beer into the animal’s mouth and took photos to post on social media. 

According to Floyd Jr., they then released the alligator and watched it swim away in a nearby pond. 

The pair now face a maximum $300 fine. 

The shocking photographs which were posted on Snapchat show an 18-to-20 inch alligator being held by an individual as its jaws are forced open.

Another image shows someone blowing smoke into the alligator's mouth – what's known as 'shotgun' style.

The images are more horrifying because the people involved are seen squeezing the gator's throat. 

Images of what appear to be young people holding the mouth of the animal open as they pour beer down its throat made the rounds on social media, prompting outrage

'The photos were uploaded onto Snapchat by one of the kids doing harm to the animal, people saw it, got angry and they did screen shots of the images,' said Kyndel McConchie of the SC Department of Natural Resources.

'That's how it came to our attention.'

So far, authorities are not specifying where or when these incidents took place.

'It almost brought me to tears,' one disgusted person said in a Facebook post.

'People torturing a baby gator, pouring beer in its mouth, blowing smoke in its mouth, just being plain cruel....It literally made me sick to my stomach.'