A 10-year-old girl was found to be in a cage at the back of a pickup trunk at Millvale, Pennsylvania, when the authorities arrived after receiving reports of the unthinkable event.

Holiday travelers returning from Memorial Day trips phoned in the police, giving a description of the truck and the girl at approximately 7pm. Though the cage was strapped down by a red restrainer, the girl was unable to sit up fully and cowers down to hug a little dog in the cage.

The couple, Thomas Fishinger and Abbey Carlson, were charged for endangering the welfare of a child by the police when the incident was discovered.

The father described that the 10-year-old requested to be in the cage with the dog. They were on their way from his mother's home in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

The grandmother says, "It was just an innocent mistake on their behalf, and it was nothing more than that. Yes, I quite possibly think that she could have been in danger. But I don't think that they were thinking of it that way. They would never put her in danger—never. I know they wouldn't."

She also firmly asserted that the parents thought it was not dangerous for the child to be in the cage because it was strapped down.