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Police have charged a dog walker from Langley, B.C., after six dogs allegedly died of heat exhaustion in the back of her truck on a day when temperatures reached as high as 25 C.

The B.C. SPCA says Emma Paulsen is facing six charges, five of which are animal cruelty-related while the sixth is one of public mischief.

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The animals were reported stolen from Paulsen’s truck while it was parked at a dog park in May, and a massive search was launched by their owners and the community.

The dogs were later found dead in a Fraser Valley ditch.

Alesha and Al MacLellan of Petsearchers Canada, who assisted in the search, said the dog walker eventually admitted to them that the dogs died.

“Unfortunately, she panicked and opted to concoct a story to cover the missing dogs,” Alesha MacLellan told The Province.

“[The dog walker] disclosed that on May 13th, all six dogs were in the back of her vehicle with the side vent windows open and water available, as she had done hundreds of times. Sometime during the outing, all six dogs perished from heatstroke. Upon arriving at the location and seeing her beloved charges deceased, she went into a blind panic at the thought of notifying the families and the possible repercussions.”

The dog walker’s own dog was among the six deceased animals.

The reported theft of the dogs, dubbed the Brookswood 6, gained widespread media coverage in B.C.

Langley RCMP did not comment on the charges instead referred questions to the SPCA.

The SPCA said it didn’t know when Paulsen would appear in court to face the allegations against her.

With files from Josh Visser, National Post