July 18, 2008

ALICE, Texas -- A former South Texas mayor has copped a plea after taking her neighbors’ dog and lying to them, claiming the pooch had died.

Last year, Grace Saenz-Lopez, then mayor in the town of Alice, took the Shih Tzu, named Puddles, from her neighbors, Rudy Gutierrez and Shelly Cavazos. They asked Saenz-Lopez to care for Puddles while they were on vacation.

The dog was very ill due to neglect, so she took Puddles to rescue him, Saenz-Lopez said. Convinced Puddles would die if returned to his former owners, she told them he died while they were away.

Saenz-Lopez pleaded no contest on July 15 to filing a false police report, a Class B misdemeanor. She was fined $300, sentenced to 48 hours of community service and received two years of probation.

Three months after the dog was taken, a relative of Puddles’ former owners saw him at a grooming business where he was brought. Saenz-Lopez had re-named the dog Panchito.

In April, a judge ordered the dog returned to his original owners.

Saenz-Lopez, in 2003, was elected mayor of Alice, which has a population of 20,000. After the dog-napping incident became public knowledge, a petition called for her ouster and she resigned in February.

Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show at the time, Saenz-Lopez said, “I didn’t steal the dog. I did not return him to save his life.”

The mayor called the family a day after their departure for vacation to tell them that Puddles had died. Given his condition, the family believed the news and said they were very upset.

“She is no way a humanitarian in taking this pet away from its owners,” said Dee Ann Torres, the lawyer for Puddles’ original owners. “They love that little dog.”

Saenz-Lopez had faced two felony counts of tampering with evidence and concealing evidence for hiding the dog with her sister and reporting it as missing. Her sister, Gracy Garcia, was indicted on a count of concealing evidence. Those charges were dropped under the plea deal.

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