BAY TERRACE — A woman who stuffed her 3-month-old puppy in a bag and threw it out of her car window was convicted Tuesday, Acting District Attorney Daniel Master Jr. said.
Alsu Ivanchenko, 35, was found guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals, torturing and injuring animals and abandonment of an animal after a six-day trial.
She dumped the Maltese Shih Tzu, later named "Charlotte" by rescuers, near the Bay Terrace train station last year, Master said. She told police she did it because she couldn't afford medical costs.
"The defendant showed utter disregard for the well-being of this helpless dog," Master said.
"Her cruel actions were depraved and sadistic, proving that she had every intent of causing extreme physical pain to Charlotte when she abandoned her and left her to die."
The puppy, who Ivanchenko called Snowflake, was found in a plastic shopping bag near the station with a fractured skull, a broken thigh bone and brain trauma by two women who brought her to the ASPCA.
On Sept. 18, 2014, Ivanchenko was arrested.
She told police she had already bought a new dog for her daughter, Pepper, to replace it, prosecutors said.
"Just give me my misdemeanor so I can get out of here," Ivanchenko told police last year, according to court documents. "It's just a dog. I opened the door and threw it out."
Despite suffering seizures from the brain injuries she received, Charlotte made a recovery and was later adopted and renamed "Pip" by her new owner, Master said.
Ivanchenko faces up to two years in prison for the conviction and will be sentenced on Oct. 27, the DA said.
