A Texas Mayor who was forced to resign after stealing a neighbor's pet and lying to police about its death has been ordered to return the dog after a long and drawn out legal battle. The Ex-Mayor of Alice, Texas returned Puddles last Thursday.
In a story that involved more than a canine and its owner, the fate of the little pooch was decided by Judge Richard Terrell as he ruled that "Puddles" the Shih Tzu would be immediately returned to his rightful owners.
Last year, a Texas Mayor and
friendly neighbor was asked by her neighbors to care for the small dog while the owners went on holiday. Mayor Saenz-Lopez agreed to to care for Puddles the pup, who was on medications at the time for health problems.
When the couple returned from their vacation, they were told their dog had died and the Mayor had even filed a police report.
The dog was later spotted at a groomers and at the Mayor's twin sister's home.
The family confronted the Mayor, who refused to speak to them. She also stated that her new dog was "Panchito". The family attempted to speak to the Mayor in City Council forums but were thrown out of the meetings, a violation of the state's open meetings laws.
As covered by Citizen Journalist, Planet Janet, Mayor Saenz-Lopez was forced to resign after being indicted on several counts of
messing with evidence. Although she did lose her position in the city, she managed to keep "Panchito" until her civil court hearing.
As they say, all are innocent until proven guilty, Ex-Mayor Saenz-Lopez was ordered to return "Puddles" to his rightful owners after the pup had been away from them for nearly a year.
“I think a lot of this is just plain ridiculous,” said the judge,
she had lied but said it was only to save the pet, which she said she could care for better than its owners the judge ruled that still did not give her the right to take Puddles, and he ordered the dog returned to the Gutierrez-Cavasos family, while denying the owners’ claim for court costs — nearly $10,000, said Mr. Gutierrez, a handyman.
Puddles is back home with the family of six: mom, dad and four children.
Despite its seemingly irrelevant status, this story made newspapers across the country. It was even covered on
NBC's Today Show.
Both the Ex-Mayor and her evil twin are scheduled next week for their trial on criminal charges in the case of "Puddles" the pooch.
Who smells like puppy poo now?
