How to create a Angular.js $resource/$http factory service to handle a query string with multiple parameters from an external resource?

How to create a Angular.js $resource/$http factory service to handle a
query string with multiple parameters from an external resource?

How could a factory $resource or $http service be created to handle a
query string with multiple arbitrary parameters from an external resource?
eg.
#/animals
#/animals?gender=m
#/animals?color=black
#/animals?size=small
#/animals?gender=m&color=black
#/animals?size=med&gender=f
#/animals?size=lg&gender=m&color=red
The idea is that there are buttons/inputs which the user can press to add
to the current list of parameters in the query string to get a new list of
animals with the desired properties in different combinations. I have
tried the following but it doesn't reload or add new parameters to the
existing url as desired. Also, I'm not sure if $route.current.params
should be called in the controller or the factory and if that's the best
way to do it.
angular.module(Animals, ['$resource', '$route', '$location',
function($resource, $route, $location) {
return $resource('http://thezoo.com/animals', $route.current.params, {
query: {method: 'GET', isArray: true}});
}]);
Thanks :)