(April 24, 2008)

ALICE--He's possibly the most well recognized South Texas dog in the country. Puddles. Tonight, the fight over him is finally over.

Today, a judge ruled the dog must be returned to his original owners. You'll remember this has been a long-running dispute. That cost the former Mayor of Alice,her job.

The family said Puddles was reunited with the Gutierrez family. The family asked the former mayor to take care of Puddles last summer while they went on vacation. It would take nearly nine months to get him back, but it finally happened this afternoon.

"Priceless and justice was served today," said Johnny Trevino, who is a Gutierrez family member. 

A judge ruled the Gutierrez family were the rightful owners of Puddles and ordered the former Alice mayor to return the dog. A big victory for the family and their small children.

"I feel happy," said Joseph Gutierrez, the nine-year-old son who hasn't seen his family dog for nearly a y ear. Did you think this day would come? Yes."

"Because we always wanted him back," said his younger brother John Gutierrez, who is 7. 

The Gutierrez family asked Grace Saenz-Lopez to dog sit while they went on vacation. When they returned, Lopez claimed the dog died. Later, they found out she still had the dog.

"I still feel this thing was ridiculous and that it got to the point that it did," said Rudy Gutierrez, who is Puddles owner. "I just keep thinking that in my head. This thing should have been resolved the first week two weeks into this incident."

Police determined Lopez never committed any criminal act. She said Puddles was abused by the Gutierrez family, so she refused to return the dog.

"What my client did was an act of charity," said Homero Canales, defense attorney for Saenz-Lopez. "She did a good thing to save the dog. Had she not intervened. the dog would have been dead."

Lopez avoided reporters after the court hearing, but her attorney justified what she did was right.

"You cannot take that away from her," Canales said. "That the judge decide otherwise, that's the court of law. Her heart and her feelings are good."

Lopez resigned as Alice Mayor over the Puddles scandal. She and her twin sister are still facing a criminal trial for allegedly filing a false report after she claimed that someone took Puddles from her home last fall.

--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com