Mayor-elect's pig kept by rescue group

The nearly blind pot-bellied pig named Arnold that Carson City Mayor-elect Bob Crowell was forced to give away under city code is with an animal rescue group working to find the animal a new home.

Crowell and Carson City Animal Services have been looking for a new owner for Arnold since Crowell had to give him away during his successful run for mayor this year.

Pigs, along with other livestock, are illegal in most residential areas of Carson City.

City Animal Services Supervisors Pat Wiggins declined to name the rescue group Arnold is with, but said the group will take the best possible care of Arnold.

People are less likely to adopt older pigs like Arnold, however, according to Wiggins.

"Arnold's situation is a little rougher," he said.

Crowell said he had a long conversation with Wiggins about what to do with Arnold.

He said he is comfortable with the situation, though Arnold does have arthritis and is losing his sight.

"I've always been concerned that a move would be difficult for Arnold," Crowell said.

He described the most important thing about the move as finding a "loving person" to take Arnold.

"He's sensitive to that," Crowell said.

A new home away from the cold winters of Carson City might be better for Arnold, he said.

The issue of candidates' pets came up in June before the primary election when then-candidate-for-mayor Pete Hansell objected to the city code. Animal services got complaints from Hansell's neighbors and told him to get rid of his seven Rhode Island red chickens.

Crowell got Arnold 10 years ago after watching a Discovery Channel program with his son on how pot-bellied pigs make good pets. Both liked the idea and later picked up Arnold from his first owner in Stagecoach.

Jessica DeBacco of Carson City said she saw how important Arnold was to the Crowell family whenever she and other friends of Bob Crowell's son would visit the house.

Arnold was an "indoor pig," she said, who would curl up near the family like a pet dog.

She and other people who knew Arnold when they were children even thought about protesting the "dirty politics" that forced Crowell to get rid of an animal that was part of the family.

"It was more than a pig to them," she said.

- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.