METRO VANCOUVER -- The dog walker who initially told police the dogs in her care were stolen, before their remains were found dumped in a ditch in Abbotsford, could face up to 18 months in jail, a $10,000 fine and a lifetime ban on owning animals if convicted of animal cruelty charges.

The B.C. SPCA announced Monday it will recommend to Crown Counsel that criminal charges of animal cruelty be laid against the dog walker, who had six dogs in her care on May 13 — including her own — when they perished.

The recommended charges include wilfully and without lawful excuse killing an animal and being the owner or the person having custody of a domestic animal who abandons it in distress or wilfully neglects or fails to provide the animal with suitable food, water and shelter.

Necropsies on the six dogs indicated they died of heat stroke, said Marcie Moriarty, chief prevention and enforcement officer for the SPCA.

“Any death from heat stroke doesn’t happen instantaneously. It all depends on breed, age and the temperature in the vehicle. We’ve always said 10 minutes is all it takes to cause a potential disaster (from heat stroke), but in this case it was more than 10 minutes,” said Moriarty.

She would not say how long the dogs were likely left in the vehicle, and said a forensic expert is doing a further report that could draw a more definite conclusion.

Moriarty added the SPCA is awaiting the forensic expert’s report and further interviews before submitting an evidence package to Crown Counsel with the recommendation that criminal charges be laid. She expects the Crown will get the report in two to three weeks, and it will be up to Crown to decide whether to proceed with charges.

She said they have been in contact with the dog walker involved but would not say whether or not she is co-operating with them in their investigation.

Asked why they are announcing their decision now to recommend animal cruelty charges, Moriarty said the SPCA has received many calls from the public inquiring about the status of the investigation.

“There was a lot of public attention from when the dogs went missing and there was a lot of concern the dogs were stolen. People were invested and were out looking for the dogs, and wondered ‘are pets at risk of being stolen?’ Then to have the worst-case scenario of finding the dogs all dead. We felt at this stage it would be best to let people know the stage of our investigation.”

Initially, the dog walker reported the dogs were stolen from the back of her truck when she left briefly to use the public washroom in a dog park in Langley.

When she later admitted they were not stolen the SPCA took over the investigation.

According to earlier media reports, the temperature was as high as 25 C on May 13.