The 21st Century Parents of the Year Contest is over before it started.

Denver Post: Couple get sitter for pups but not for youngsters

An unspeakable horror stalks the land.

But at least they are part of the muti-billion dollar US pet market that helps to keep our economy afloat.

A married couple who got a dog sitter for their puppies but left the man's young children home alone while they vacationed in Las Vegas were arrested Wednesday, police said.

Jacob Calero, 39, and Michelle De La Vega, 32, were taken into custody as they arrived home on a flight to Oakland. They had left town Friday to celebrate the new year, authorities said.

The couple apparently told 9-year-old Joshua to look after his 5-year-brother, Jason, who is autistic. The children spent one night alone before police found them.

The boys' maternal grandmother, Libbey Holden, said she called police because she had suspected the couple left the children at home in San Ramon, about 35 miles east of San Francisco.

Joshua said his father and stepmother got each other puppies for Christmas, which they brought to De La Vega's mother to care for before leaving town.

"I thought they loved them more than us," Joshua told The Associated Press during an interview at his maternal grandmother's apartment. The children's mother died in 2003.

Out of the mouths of babes...

That brave boy and his brother deserve better. Bless and protect them, Lord.

He added that he and his brother ate cereal for breakfast and cooked frozen dinners in the microwave.

Calero and De La Vega were being held on suspicion of two felony counts each of child endangerment. Bail was set at $200,000.

Police found the children asleep in their beds Saturday night. A gas fireplace was on, but they found nothing out of the ordinary.

"It appears that the food and the environment were set up for them to be alone," San Ramon police Sgt. Brian Kalinowski said.

How thoughtful.

Officers began calling Calero's cellphone Saturday, but he didn't call back until Tuesday.

"We get the sense that they felt no urgency for them to return home," Kalinowski said.