Photos: Staten Island woman faces two years in prison for animal abuse

A Staten Island woman has been convicted of felony animal cruelty on Monday after a September 2014 incident when she fractured her puppy’s skull and tossed her on the side of the road, leaving her for dead.

Alsu Ivanchenko, 35, faces up to two years in prison when she is sentenced on Oct. 27. She was convicted of a felony aggravated cruelty to animals charge, a misdemeanor overdriving, torturing and injuring animals charge and a misdemeanor abandonment of an animal charge after a six day bench trial.

Prosecutors said that Ivanchenko did not seek medical attention for her 3-month-old Maltese mix puppy named Snowflake (who was later renamed Charlotte) when she suffered a fractured leg.Ivanchenko instead hit Charlotte in the head, fracturing her skull in two places, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury.

She then put the dog in a black plastic bag and dumped her by the train tracks in Bay Terrace. Prosecutors said Ivanchenko injured the dog because she did not want to pay the medical bills, and purchased a replacement dog named Pepper.

The injured pup was found by a good Samaritan and taken to a nearby animal hospital. She required emergency surgery and24-hour care, but eventually recovered and was adopted.

Ivanchenko surrendered ownership to both dogs when she was arrested.