anybody see the story about "Puddles" aka "Ponchito" on Today....

I found it appalling! (for those spellers out there- hope I spelled that right...)-

This family in Texas (can't remember the city) asked their neighbor, who is the Mayor of the town- to pet sit their little shih-tzu for the weekend while they went out of town.  The mayor didn't like the look of the dog- she alleges, covered in fleas and suffering from flea anemia- hair loss, unkempt appearance etc... Anyway- so she takes the dog- tells the family (they have young children too) that the dog died and that she buried it in the backyard.  A few days later, the family heard the dog barking! Now they have to go to court to try and get their dog back.  Meredith Viera interviewed both the family and the mayor- she asked the Mayor why she just didn't report the family to the animal control and you know what her response was? " I didn't want to get Shelly (the owner) in trouble"  How lame is that! I mean- I can see if she was concerned with the welfare of little Puddles that she should have at least taken it to the vet and then let the owners know what the vet said to try and educate the family- You don't have to steal someone else's pet! Plus- did she not think that she would be found out? They live right next door! I've done pet sitting for over 20 years and I never would think about stealing someone's pet.  I'm still shaking my head....

I didn't see the report so I don't have any facts except what you mentioned however, it sounds like the mayor's on a power trip or missing a few marbles.  The dog looked great when I saw Meredith talking about the story coming up (but I switched channels).  I wonder how long the mayor had it, if it was a short time, then the neglect still should have been evident if true.

She should have called animal control or at least taken the dog to the vet to document the alleged neglect from an impartial witness.  To put the adults and especially the children through the trauma of saying it was dead!!!!! 

Yeah- I'm not sure how long the Mayor has had it either. They showed a picture of it with shorter hair but it didn't look that sick to me either.  On the Today show- the Mayor could be faced with obstruction of justice and sentenced for up to 10 years in jail! It's crazy! She still insists that she did the right thing. I wish I was going to be on her jury!