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Lawyer Homero Canales has temporary custody of the dog.
JOHN MacCORMACK: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
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Puppy love scandal takes a serious turn
S. Texas town's mayor indicted in Shih Tzu dispute
San Antonio Express-News
ALICE — As with most tragic love affairs, the one that has unfolded here in recent months in a harsh media glare has had all the classical elements: a blind infatuation, public condemnation and the harsh threat of ruin.
The only thing unique to this doomed romance was that it involves Grace Saenz-Lopez, the mayor of Alice, and a 5-pound Shih Tzu that happens to belong to someone else.
"She loves the little dog," the mayor's attorney, Homero Canales, said in an early Friday interview.
"She told me that if she were a single woman, she would not care if she went to jail for the rest of her life before she would give the dog back," he said.
And now it may come to that. On Friday afternoon, what has been seen as a bizarre local comedy took a dead serious turn when the mayor was indicted on felony counts of concealing evidence and falsifying evidence.
Her twin sister, Gracy Garcia, was also indicted by the Jim Wells County grand jury on one count of concealing evidence.
The charges came after the mayor reported the dog missing, only to have a television news crew from nearby Corpus Christi quickly find it safe and sound at her sister's house in the country.
The mayor's explanation — that a mysterious woman driving a red car discovered the lost dog and delivered it to Garcia — was met with wide skepticism.
While the mayor was not available for comment Friday, Canales predicted the charges will not hold up in court.
"If we don't beat it here, we'll beat it at the appellate court. To commit a criminal act, you have to have intent. The dog was taken strictly to save it," the mayor's lawyer said.
"My client is a fragile person and I'm afraid she's going to have a nervous breakdown, but she's very adamant. She will not give the dog back unless ordered to by the court," Canales said.
All began with a favor
If convicted of a felony, the mayor, who was elected without opposition last year to a third term, could be forced from office. A recall effort is already under way, and popular opinion is heavily against her.
"It's made it very embarrassing for our whole community," said former mayor Fidel Rul.
"Any sensible person would have returned the dog a long time ago. I'm hoping she will come to her senses and step down. If she doesn't, we'll go through with the recall process," Rul said.
The case has been covered heavily by local news media, and even prompted a visit by a Los Angeles Times reporter. The Alice Echo-News Journal won headline immortality with the (misspelled) zinger: "The Shitzu hits the fan."
Looking back, it's hard for everyone here to imagine it all began with a simple neighborly favor.
In July, the mayor agreed to watch a sickly puppy named Puddles, while Rudy Gutierrez and his family took a short trip.
'Twist and turn'
When the Gutierrezes called a few days later to check on the dog, the mayor told them it had died. But when Puddles — which the mayor apparently renamed Panchito — was spotted at a local grooming shop, the truth came out.
When the mayor refused to give the dog back, push soon came to shove. Eventually the family filed both a criminal complaint and a civil suit seeking to recover their dog.
"I think they are in complete shock. Every day there is some new twist and turn they did not expect," lawyer Deeann Torres said of her clients, who could not be reached for comment Friday.
"It seems she has just taken an amazing affection to this puppy. She doesn't treat it like a dog. She treats it more like a baby. And she thinks she can raise it better and has a right to," Torres said.
On Feb. 4, District Judge Richard Terrell will hear arguments about who should get the dog, which on Friday was being kept at Canales' office.
'Positively no winners'
As word of the indictments filtered out early Friday afternoon, several city officials soberly shared their thoughts about the improbable turn of events.
"There are absolutely, positively no winners. The mayor has suffered and we feel for her. The Gutierrezes have suffered and the city has suffered," said City Attorney Joe Torres.
Councilman Shane Valverde, who spoke to her Thursday night, said Saenz-Lopez was determined to stay in office.
"She's terribly distraught over the whole thing, but she assured me that she has no intention of stepping down even if the council requests it. She said she'll let the people decide," Valverde said.
Council member Dorella Elizondo said the mayor's well-known love of animals and the death of one of her own dogs may have somehow led her into her current dilemma.
"None of this makes any sense," Elizondo said.
"But in June, I remember sending her flowers when her dog died. She'd had it for a long time and was very attached to it. Maybe that had something to do with it. Maybe this new dog filled that void," she said.