A small-town mayor accused of secretly keeping her neighbors' dog after telling them the pet died has resigned, and a judge is set to decide custody of the Shih Tzu.

Grace Saenz-Lopez apologized Friday to Alice residents and said she believed her actions were in the dog's best interest.

"I am sorry for the division that the events of these last few weeks have caused," Saenz-Lopez wrote in her resignation letter. "It was never my intention to bring any negative exposure to our city."

A custody hearing is expected to decide who gets Puddles, who Saenz-Lopez renamed "Panchito" after taking the dog last summer.

A neighboring family accuses Saenz-Lopez of refusing to return the dog after leaving it in her care while they went on vacation. A day after her neighbors left, Saenz-Lopez called to tell them Puddles had died.

Three months later, a relative of the neighbors saw the pet at a dog groomer. When Saenz-Lopez refused to return the dog, the family filed a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit against her.

Homero Canales, who represents Saenz-Lopez, has said his client believed the dog would die if returned to her neighbors.

Saenz-Lopez, the city's mayor since 2003, was indicted Jan. 18 on two felony counts of tampering with evidence and concealing evidence.

Those charges came after Saenz-Lopez filed a police report claiming the dog was missing. The dog was later spotted at the home of Saenz-Lopez's twin sister, in Ben Bolt, about 10 miles from Alice.

City commissioners voted unanimously last week for a resolution urging Saenz-Lopez to resign. Mayor Pro-Tem Juan Rodriguez will take over mayoral duties.

Alice is about 45 miles west of Corpus Christi.

美国得克萨斯州一个小城市的市长被指控谎称邻居家的小狗已死并将其据为己有。这位市长现已辞职，法官将决定谁能有这只西施犬的监护权。

艾丽斯市市长格雷丝·萨恩斯-洛佩斯上周五向市民道歉，并说她这样做是因为她认为这对那条狗最好。

萨恩斯-洛佩斯在她的辞职信中写道，“我对过去几个星期这件事造成的影响深表歉意，给我们的城市带来负面影响绝不是我的本意。”

预计将举行一个听证会来决定谁会得到这条狗。萨恩斯-洛佩斯于去年夏天收养了这条狗，并把它的名字改成了“Panchito”。

萨恩斯-洛佩斯的邻居家指控她说，他们度假的时候请她代为照顾这条狗，后来她却拒绝把这条狗还给他们。在邻居离开一天后，萨恩斯-洛佩斯就打电话告诉他们，这条狗死了。

3个月后，邻居的亲戚在一个狗美容店里看到这条狗，邻居才知道自己的爱犬并没有死。然而，萨恩斯-洛佩斯却拒绝把狗还给他们，于是这家人对她提起诉讼。

萨恩斯-洛佩斯的代理律师说他的委托人相信如果将狗还给邻居，小狗就会丧命。

萨恩斯-洛佩斯2003年就任该市市长。她于1月18日被指控犯有两项重罪：篡改证据和隐瞒证据。

这些指控缘于萨恩斯-洛佩斯报警说小狗走失，而小狗随后在萨恩斯-洛佩斯双胞胎妹妹家中被发现。她妹妹住在距艾丽斯市约10英里的本·博尔特市。

艾丽斯市市政官员上周举行投票，一致通过决议，要求萨恩斯-洛佩斯辞职。胡安·罗伯里格兹将将作为代理市长代替履行市长职责。

艾丽斯市位于德克萨斯州柯柏斯克里斯提以西45英里的地方。