Mayoral candidate Bob Crowell has to give up pet pot-bellied pig due to city code

Don't call him a pig, Bob Crowell said. Call him Arnold.

Don't call him a pet, Bob Crowell said. Call him a good friend.

That's how a nearly blind pot-bellied pig with arthritis should be thought of, said Crowell, a candidate for mayor who is working with Carson City Animal Services to find a new home for the pet he is not allowed to keep under city code.

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

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 when animal services got complaints from Hansell's neighbors and told him to get rid of his seven Rhode Island red chickens.

Crowell said Friday, however, that he knows he has to get rid of Arnold because it's the law. He hadn't thought it would ever be an issue, though, and he hopes animal services can find a good home for Arnold.

"He's been a friend for a lot of people in the neighborhood for a lot of years," he said.

Crowell got Arnold 10 years ago after watching a Discovery Channel program with his son on how pot-bellied pigs make good pets. Both thought that would be "a cool thing," he said, and later picked up Arnold from his first owner in Stagecoach.

Finding him a good home now is important, Crowell said, because Arnold has arthritis and poor vision. He said he isn't sure exactly how poor Arnold's vision is, but he has to bang a pan to get his attention.

"I've never been able to talk to him to see how blind he is," Crowell said.

Hansell said Friday he was asked by animal services again when he would get rid of his chickens, but he promised to fight the case if he gets a promised citation from animal services.

"For some reason, they don't give us a fine," Hansell said. "I don't understand that."

Both Crowell and a former mayoral candidate this year, Steve McClung, have been cooperative about getting rid of their illegal animals, said Carson City Animal Services Supervisor Pat Wiggins. The city hasn't been able to work with Hansell, though, he said.

"It's something that could have been handled easier," Wiggins said. "It was a big deal for a very small minor infraction."

McClung said he would have liked to keep his 12 chickens, but he wasn't attached to them like Crowell is to his pig.

"To be honest with you, we miss the eggs," he said, "but it's less work for my wife."

But now that Arnold will soon be gone, Crowell said he only has one thing on his mind.

"We just want to make sure Arnold is taken care of," Crowell said. "That's all."

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