The B.C. dog walker who left six dogs to die in her truck in sweltering heat last year should serve jail time and pay thousands of dollars in fines, prosecutors argued Wednesday.

At a sentencing hearing in Surrey provincial court, the Crown played TV news reports from May 2014 showing Emma Paulsen claiming the dogs had been stolen from her vehicle.

Crying could be heard in the courtroom as the footage was shown.

Prosecutors said they're seeking a sentence of six months to one year in jail, a $5,000 to $10,000 fine, a lifetime ban on caring for other people’s pets and a 10-year ban on owning pets.

The defence called for community service and a conditional sentence, arguing that Paulsen has already suffered through negative attention brought on by media coverage of her case.

Paulson’s lawyer said his client was parked at a Richmond Costco for about 40 minutes the day the dogs died.

The defendant, who showed up in court with newly dyed brown hair, initially said someone dog-napped the animals while she used a washroom at the Brookswood dog park in Langley.

Their bodies were eventually found dumped in a ditch in Abbotsford.

RCMP said Paulsen later admitted to concocting a story about the dogs being stolen.

“Mrs. Paulsen continued to offer hope, where there was none,” Crown said, referring to Paulsen telling media the dogs were stolen. “Her actions demonstrate extreme recklessness.”

On Wednesday, Crown said an animal expert believes the dogs suffered and were in distress before they died.

A necropsy revealed the canines ingested bedding from the back of Paulsen’s truck. They were also found to have pulmonary congestion and red skin discolouration consistent with heat stroke.

In November 2014, Paulsen pleaded guilty to two of six charges stemming from the dogs’ deaths – one count of causing an animal to be in distress and one count of reporting a false offence to police. Four other charges were stayed.

The other charges against Paulsen included killing or injuring an animal, causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal, and causing an animal to continue to be in distress.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 28.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber