Photo of Heineken posters at dogfight creates fury on the Web

Images of a dogfight taking place in a venue decorated with Heineken beer banners has taken the Web by storm.

The pictures are from an illegal dogfighting match that took place in Mongolia in 2011—but have gone viral on the Web and are causing some serious blowback for the company.

The beer maker was plastered with protest posts on its Facebook page with fans of the beverage upset over the brand being associated with an act of animal cruelty. One asked, "Why do you sponsor dog fights?" Another posted a petition to "stop sponsoring dog fighting" for people vowing to boycott the brand. You can see an image of the dogfight.

Heineken responded on its Facebook wall: "We do not support dogfights. This specific event was conducted by an individual and not authorized nor endorsed by Heineken. We want to thank our consumers on-line for bringing this issue to our attention."

Heineken also noted in a statement on its website that it "was not and would never knowingly be associated with illegal activities, including those involving cruelty to animals." The company said that it had spoken with the owner of the nightclub who confirmed the banners had been left up from a promotional event that " in no way related to the dog fight."