DALTON, Ga. — Three northern Georgia high school students are facing felony animal cruelty charges after posting two videos to the Internet showing the killing of three chickens.

The video shows one of the three throwing the chickens down into the middle of an asphalt residential street as if he were “spiking a football,” according to Maj. John Gibson of the Whitfield County, Georgia Sheriff’s Office.

Mason Hunter Shepard, 18, James Kyle Roberts, 17, and a 16-year-old juvenile are all charged with aggravated cruelty to animals. Shepard and Roberts were arrested Wednesday morning and were both released on $1,500 bonds.

According to Gibson, Shepard and Roberts used their cellphones to record the killing, which was committed by the juvenile, whose name is not being released by authorities. The video was then uploaded to YouTube and has since been removed from the popular video website.

A fellow student contacted county sheriff’s deputies on Sept. 4 about the video. Gibson said originally the charge was not a felony offense but a less severe misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals. However, when Shepard and Roberts turned themselves in Wednesday morning, they were charged with the felony offense.

“We had met with the magistrate judge and after meeting with the District Attorney’s office, the charges were upgraded to a felony,” Gibson said. “The video is pretty graphic and it looks like the incident was done in malice. It was a pretty malicious act if you watch the video.”

Multiple messages and attempts to reach Shepard, Roberts and their family were unsuccessful Thursday. Area attorney Gandi Vaughn said he had been consulted by Shepard but was not the attorney of record for the case and declined to comment.

According to Gibson, the video has been turned over to Assistant District Attorney Susan Franklin, who is handling the case. Voicemail messages left for District Attorney Bert Poston seeking comment were not immediately returned Thursday night.

Gibson said the three told investigators the chickens were going to die anyway.

“They claimed the chickens had some chemical oil on them but when you watch the video, they are laughing, slamming them into the middle of a roadway,” Gibson said. “It is not something that is humanely done. I don’t know of any chicken farmers who slam them into the ground like they were spiking a football. They did it in such a malicious way. It was just inappropriate. They were not disposing of chicks in a common manner and sparing them any misery.”

Gibson said even though neither Roberts nor Shepard did the actual slaying, that doesn’t absolve them from any of the charges.

“If you watch the video, they are preparing to make this video, so it is a planned act between the three of them,” Gibson said. “It wasn’t a spontaneous act and one of them thought to take out his phone and record it. You have two different angles with two different phones, laughing and cutting up the whole time. It was not a mercy killing. The video shows a different story and the whole case is based on the video. It is kind of hard to argue with the video.”

Whitfield writes for the Dalton (Georgia) Daily Citizen.