Outgoing mayor pardons pet pig

Judge Todd Russell read Marv Teixeira's last, and disputed, mayoral proclamation minutes before swearing the mayor-elect into office.

Arnold, the pet pot-bellied pig that new Mayor Bob Crowell had to give away last year, is pardoned, Russell read Monday.

The arthritic senior citizen "in pig years" should be exempt from city code, returned from a rescue group and be allowed to spend his last years with the Crowell family, the judge read to a crowded room in the Carson City Community Center.

"Now, therefore, I, Marv Teixeira, Mayor of Carson City, Nevada, do hearby proclaim Jan. 5, 2009, as 'Arnold's Plight' Awareness Day in Carson City," Russell read, "and acting in the capacity which I was elected by the citizens of Carson City and as my final act in such capacity, do hearby grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to Arnold, the pot-bellied pig."

"Let's bring Arnold home," Russell read.

Though the Carson City District Attorney's Office said the pardon has no legal power, Teixeira said he was "very sincere" about his proclamation.

"Did I have the power to do that?" the former three-term mayor said. "I didn't even check. It was the right thing to do and I did it."

The city can issue special permits and make other rules, Teixeira said, so supervisors should be able to do something for Crowell's pig.

Crowell and two other candidates for mayor learned in June they would have to give up their pets under a city code preventing livestock in most parts of the city.

But Arnold can't go home without a change in city code, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Melanie Bruketta.

Crowell said he appreciated the good intentions of the pardon he called "ceremonial."

Teixeira's proclamation does bring up the serious subject of reforming the city code that forces owners to get rid of their livestock pets, he said.

Code changes should be considered carefully and not driven by what happened to Arnold, he said.

Gov. Jim Gibbons, a member of the Nevada Board of Pardons Commissioners, does not plan to look at the pig's situation, according to Dan Burns, a governor's office representative.

"The government closest to the people and the pig should handle the issue," he said

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