An Orange County-based dog trainer was convicted of animal cruelty after he was accused of killing 11 dogs and trying to cover up the crimes.

Kwong Chun Sit, 54, of Irvine killed 11 dogs by keeping them in small crates in a hot van, causing fatal heatstroke, according to the prosecutors. Sit was also convicted of attempting to destroy evidence after he allegedly tried to have the dead dogs cremated to conceal their deaths.

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Sit's girlfriend, Tingfeng Liu, was convicted of accessory to a felony.

Although the trainer's defense attorney told NBC Los Angeles the deaths were unintentional, his victims expressed unshakable grief for losing their four-legged family members.

Maryann Berkovich, one of the victims, said she left her Pomeranian Cody for a weeks-long training with Sit at his Happy K9 Academy last year. Cody's training appeared to be going along smoothly until Berkovich received a text message that said the dog died in his sleep.

 I was shocked. I was in disbelief. I was devastated,  Berkovich said.

Aimee Gutierrez received the almost identical message that said her dog Saint had died, then  lovingly cremated. 

 I thought it was a joke,  Gutierrez said, recalling Sit's message.

Gutierrez said she never got her dog's ashes nor the $3,000 refund she said Sit had promised her.

 We have the guilty verdict we prayed for, but it came at a cost,  she said.  Eleven dogs lost their lives because God knows why. 

Investigators recovered the cremated remains of one dog, nine bodies and the remains of two other canines, according to Irvine police. Additional dogs were also recovered at separate crematoriums.

Sit, who faces a maximum of nearly 14 years in prison, was scheduled to be sentenced on July 10.

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