Dognapping Mayor Loses Job, Pet

Posted May 8th, 2008 at 10:42 am in Pet Stories

A Dog Worth Losing Your Job For?

A canine custody case that merits the abduction case of the year award stunned a small-town in south Texas and resulted in the resignation of it's mayor. I saw an article about the case in the Arizona Republic back in April and have been following the story. It emphasizes just how attached people can get to their furry friends. Anyway, the former mayor of Alice, Texas, Grace Saenz-Lopez, has officially submitted her resignation rather than face a nasty dognapping trial and charges of evidence tampering. She was ordered by a judge to return a Shih Tzu to her neighbors after telling them the dog was dead and buried. (how cruel is that?)

Are Shih Tzu's Dogs So Appealing They Can Cause Regular People To Lose Their Sense Of Fair Play?

It seems that former mayor Grace was of the opinion that the dog's rightful owners, Rudy Gutierrez and Shelly Cavasos, were mistreating the dog and that it needed rescuing. What we now suspect is that she got a bit too attached to their dog "Puddles" after agreeing to dog-sit him while they were traveling. She came to love the dog so much that while caring for Puddles – she hatched a scheme to keep him. When the owners returned three months later they were told by Saenz-Lopez that the dog had died! When Puddles was subsequently spotted at a groomers by a relative of the neighbors it had been renamed Panchito and was brought in by – none other than the dognappping mayor herself! When she suspected that she was busted, Saenz-Lopez hid the dog at her sister's rural ranch.

She had faced a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit filed by the neighbors before deciding to resign so you know it was starting to get ugly. (Tip: A simple chip scan might have avoided all this doggy drama). It had gotten so bad that City council members held a vote of no confidence and recall petition affidavits were gathered. A political storm cloud was gathering and it makes you wonder just how good a mayor she was anyway. On February 1, before a date for such an election could be set, Saenz-Lopez resigned from office.

National Exposure For A Victim Of Spell Cast By A Dog!

This story has received nationwide attention due in part to her important (?) public status as mayor of the Alice community and her bizarre rationale for the theft and deception, claiming the dog was mistreated by its owners and that she did it in the dog's best interest. Hello! What's wrong with getting your own Shih Tzu Grace? She stuck to her guns on NBC's Today Show, saying "I did not steal that dog, I did not return him to save his life." Whatever. She still was to face charges of tampering with evidence and concealing evidence but I have found no copy on this. I think that losing her "important" job as mayor and stripping her of Puddles was considered enough punishment.