Paralysed dog euthanised after Krystal Hartley abandons them in Malabar unit

An animal abuser left her dogs to starve and suffer after abandoning the pair in a southeast Sydney unit, resulting in one of the dogs – who was found partly paralysed - having to be euthanised. Warning: Distressing content.

Krystal Hartley outside Waverley Court House after she pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to provide her pets with veterinary treatment.

An animal abuser left her dogs to “suffer” in a Malabar unit resulting in one having to be put down.

Krystal Hartley, of Marrickville, faced Waverley Local Court on Tuesday when she pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to provide her pets with veterinary treatment.

Magistrate Stephen Barlow sentenced her to a two-year community correction order with a conviction recorded, fined her $2000 and ordered her to pay the RSPCA $6333.

Court documents state police searched the 31-year-old’s former Malabar unit for an unrelated matter on December 21, 2023 ,when they stumbled across two abandoned American Staffordshire terriers.

Most personal belongings had been removed from the house, which was being leased to Hartley by the NSW Housing Department, police facts state.

Krystal Hartley (middle) left her dogs suffering in her unit without food.

The terriers had been left without food, they were covered in urine and faeces, flea-ridden and had red skin around their bellies, police facts state.

The floor was also littered with faeces which had been left there for some time, the facts continued.

An American Staffordshire terrier (not one of Hartley’s dogs).

Police were not able to contact Hartley causing them to seize the dogs. Officers contacted the RSPCA and the dogs immediately received veterinary care.

One of the dogs named Blade was paralysed from the waist down and had to be put down the next day. The court heard he had an underlying condition.

The vet estimated Blade could not move his legs for more than a month and it is not known if the condition had developed before he was abandoned. The other dog named Desire was taken to the Hunter Valley RSPCA.

One of Hartley’s dogs had to be put down.

At court Hartley’s lawyer Hannah Dempsey said her client had owned Blade since he was a puppy and he had been well cared for most of his life.

“She had a relationship breakdown and was taking drugs. She could not take care of herself or the dogs,” she said.

“She was at a place where she felt she had lost control.”

Hartley has made steps to address her drug use and she did not have an issue paying the compensation the RSPCA sought, Ms Dempsey said.

Mr Barlow said it was not clear how long the dogs were left at the unit and the offending was a “degraded expression of cruelty”.

“You left the dogs to suffer,” he said. “To let an animal die like this is most disturbing. I don’t know what to say, I can’t put it into words.”

He said owning an animal required respect and trust, and dogs need to be treated humanely.

“You’ve managed to get off drugs and get into TAFE, you are in a different place now,” he said.