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April 26, 2008

Ex-mayor loses Shih-Tzu

A custody fight over a dog that led to the end of a small-town mayor's political career was resolved Thursday when the ex-mayor was ordered to return the contested Shih Tzu to her neighbors.

Grace Saenz-Lopez, the former mayor of Alice, Texas, had agreed to dog-sit "Puddles" last year. Believing her owners weren't properly caring for the dog, the ex-mayor told them upon their return that Puddles had died, then kept the dog.

Three months later, a relative of the neighbors saw the dog, renamed Panchito, at a grooming business.

In court, Saenz-Lopez insisted that Rudy Gutierrez and Shelly Cavazos had neglected the animal, but District Judge Richard Terrell in McAllen ordered her to give the dog back to the couple, the Associated Press reports.

Saenz-Lopez resigned as mayor once a recall petition began circulating. She had held the office since 2003. She still faces two felony counts of tampering with evidence and concealing evidence. A preliminary hearing on those charges is scheduled for Tuesday.

You can read the full AP story here.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:15 AM | | Comments (0)
        

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About Jill Rosen
Jill Rosen is a reporter at The Baltimore Sun. During her nearly 20 years in journalism, she has covered news and features — including a surprising number of stories that involved animals. There were the dog Christmas carolers in State College, Pa. There were the hounds who toured with a production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The story of a preschool teacher at Baltimore’s Father Kolbe School who had to replace her class guinea pig, who died over the winter holiday. A harrowing tale of what it was like to make homemade pet food ...

Though her clean freak of a mother refused to allow her to get a dog, she has had a number of pets through the years, including goldfish named Bob and Fingle, a betta fish named Ichabod, a wild rat terrier named Wendel, who she shared with a roommate, and, currently, sweet, sweet kitties named Leo Sesame and Milo Pumpkin and a little rescued pup named Teddy Bean. She, Leo, Pumpkin and Teddy Bean live in Baltimore.
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