ALICE, Tex. — Rustling has been frowned upon in this South Texas cow and cotton town since long before it was named for the youngest daughter of the founder of the nearby King Ranch.
So when the mayor, Grace Saenz-Lopez, agreed to take care of her next-door neighbors’ sick Shih Tzu and ended up keeping it, telling them the dog was dead and buried, it was bound to get ugly.
Particularly after the mop-haired critter, Puddles, turned up quite alive — and renamed Panchito — at Ms. Saenz-Lopez’s twin sister’s ranch 14 miles away.
Now Ms. Saenz-Lopez is the ex-mayor, charged with tampering with evidence — Puddles/Panchito — and fabricating a police report saying he was missing. Her sister, Gracy Garcia, is charged with concealing evidence. The felony charges could put the 64-year-old women behind bars for as long as 10 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/us/13puddles.html?th&emc=th