Sparky the 11-week old puppy, found in a bin, having been tortured to death in Lurgan, County Armagh.PSNI

Northern Irish police are seeking the public’s help to gather evidence of a heinous crime which was streamed on the social media platform, Snapchat.

Police in Northern Ireland have arrested two men in suspected to have bludgeoned an 11-week old puppy with a hammer before putting it in a microwave. Footage of the horrific act was uploaded to the social media platform, Snapchat.

The puppy, named by police as Sparky, was killed in the Ailsbury Park area of Lurgan, County Armagh, on Saturday. The dog’s remains were recovered from a bin and a post mortem is to take place to determine the cause of death.

A man, aged 23, and a teen, aged 16, have been arrested and remain in custody but the police are appealing to the public for information.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) detectives are calling upon anyone who saw the footage or has photographs of the incident to come forward.

A spokesman said “Whatever happened, it is obvious that little Sparky suffered a horrendous death. We want to get to the bottom of that and make sure that whoever is responsible is held to account.

“We have two in custody, but need the evidence to be able to take that further.”

The Belfast Telegraph reports that Snapchat will not release data relating to the killing. The social network will only share information on certain crimes and this incident did not fall into one of those categories.

The police have also urged the public to stop naming people they suspect may be guilty as this could “prejudice the court case”. They urged the public to contact the police instead.

Public outcry about the incident has been at fever pitch and #justiceforsparky has gone viral.