SURREY, B.C. — A Vancouver-area dog walker accused of killing six dogs by leaving them in a hot truck has pleaded guilty to two charges — animal cruelty and mischief.
Emma Paulsen was charged with six counts before admitting that she lied about what happened in May, when she left the animals in her truck at a Langley dog park.
Paulsen first reported they had been stolen from her vehicle but then told police that the dogs died of heat exhaustion.
Reports of the missing dogs prompted a massive community search before ultimately leading officers to the bodies in a Fraser Valley ditch.
Jennifer Myers, whose Boston terrier died in the truck, said she fears Paulsen will get a light sentence after all the pain she's caused to families who lost their pets.
"She pleaded guilty to two of six charges, which right away makes you think that what she's going to get for a sentence will be a slap on the wrist than anything and that's a real slap in the face of all the families," Myers said outside provincial court in Surrey.
The temperature was as high as 25 C on May 13, when Paulsen left the dogs, including one of her own, in the truck.
Paulsen initially said she was away from her vehicle for only a few minutes to use the washroom at a park and that when she returned the animals were gone.
She told police she spent hours looking for them and dreaded the thought of telling their owners they were missing, RCMP said at the time.
The maximum sentence for animal cruelty cases is two years.
Paulsen will be sentenced on Jan 21.
