The neighbours of the lady Mayor in the small Texan town had asked to look after Puddles, (yes, Puddles,) whilst they enjoyed a vacation. Alice Mayor, Grace Saenz-Lopez was overjoyed when she was asked but when the neighbors were away soaking up the sun, she called to tell them that their beloved dog had died. She had even gone to the police and told them that the dog was missing from her home.

Yet the Mayor was up to something more cunning. She lied about the dog's death in the hope to keep the pet for herself. She had even renamed the animal (wouldn't you?) and called it Panchito instead. She may have got away with the pooch crime, but the dog was spotted twice out. Firstly at the home of the Mayor's sister and then again having a short back and sides at the local dog grooming parlour.

However the Mayor was caught and was found guilty on two counts of tampering with the evidence and concealing evidence after she was indicted on the 18th of Jan.

Facing up to her canine catastrophe, she formally resigned as Mayor which was published in the Alice Echo-News Journal. She stated in her resignation how sorry she was to have committed canine chaos.

The canine crime has lead to the Mayor and the distraught neighbours facing each other in court as a custody hearing unravelled yesterday. They battled it out to decide who was going to keep the dog.

She said in her resignation,

"I can tell you that I did at the time what I thought was best for Panchito and what I felt was right in my heart. I am sorry for the division that the events of these last few weeks have caused. It was never my intent to bring any negative exposure to our city."