VANCOUVER -- An SPCA spokeswoman says the bodies of six dogs initially reported stolen from the back of a dog walker's truck were found dumped in a ditch in Abbotsford, B.C.
Lorie Chortyk says necropsies will be done to determine how long the dogs were left in a vehicle in nearby Langley, B.C., where they are believed to have died in hot weather.
Chortyk says the SPCA has taken over the investigation and that animal cruelty charges may be laid against the dog walker, who has admitted the animals were not stolen.
The woman initially told police and the dogs' owners that she left her vehicle to use the washroom in a dog park and when she returned the dogs were gone.
The temperature was as high as 25 degrees last Tuesday, when the dog walker left the dogs, including one of her own, in the truck.
RCMP have said the animals apparently died in the back of the woman's vehicle and that they are looking into possible public mischief charges.
