A pig’s tale: Sooie vs. phooey
Hearing to weigh whether potbellied swine can live in city or hoof it out.
When Little Rock District Judge Mark Leverett ruled in June that city ordinances allow for potbellied pigs within the city limits, Jyll Latham thought it was OK to keep her 1-year-old porker as a house pet.
But, it turns out a public hearing on Aug. 14 and a trip before the Little Rock Board of Directors will determine whether W.P. Sooie and a half-dozen or so other Vietnamese potbellied pigs can stay in the city.
The W.P. Sooie tale started in late February, after Latham bought a home in the Pennbrook-Clover Hill neighborhood.
Latham was excited to have a yard for her son, her dogs and Sooie to play in. But at least one neighbor was not happy about the pig’s choice of a latrine location.
Animal-control officers visited Latham within a few days of her moving in. She said the first officer looked at her 70-pound indoor pig and said potbellied pigs were allowed to stay. A second officer, however, cited Latham, saying that under city statute the miniature pig had to be at least 300 feet from other residences.
“I knew that wasn’t right. I knew that had to do with livestock, and Sooie is a pet allowed under a different statute that gives an exception for potbellied pigs,” Latham said.
“I wouldn’t have adopted him and made him a part of our family if I hadn’t been entirely sure that city laws and property covenants allowed for him to be here. He’s part of our family now. He’s neutered, he’s wormed, he sits, he comes when you call him and he sleeps in a doggy bed in my closet. He’s got a great
personality, and we love him.”
A court ruled in Latham’s favor at the end of June.
“The judge interpreted the law the same way that I did, that potbellied pigs are pets, not livestock,” she said.
But there’s a discrepancy in Little Rock’s city code.
Section 6-41 states that it shall be unlawful to keep hogs, pigs or swine in the corporate city limits, though it specifically says that the law does not apply to Vietnamese potbellied pigs.
Statute 6-43 states that it is illegal to keep cows, goats, horses and other “hoofed” animals within a 300-foot radius of residences.
“The judge thought that it was not clear that potbellied pigs should be considered under the livestock provision,” said Tracy Roark, Animal Services Division director. “Since that doesn’t clearly apply, there are no rules or regulations on how they have to be kept.”
The Animal Services Advisory Board met last week — in the wake of the almost four-month legal battle — to discuss whether there’s a need for specific rules on potbellied pigs.
A half-dozen of Latham’s neighbors showed up to ask that potbellied pigs be banned within the city limits. The neighbor who lives closest to the corner where Sooie relieves himself produced photos.
Don Rawls has lived in the Pennbrook-Clover Hill neighborhood for more than 40 years. He said he takes care of his yard, talks to most of his neighbors, and enjoys walking over and visiting them in their yards.
Within days of Latham moving in, he said, he got a whiff of something different in the neighborhood.
“I walked out the back door, and it was like the smell of a feedlot, so much that it almost knocked me down,” Rawls said.
He said he decided to wait to talk to Latham, because he hoped the smell was fertilizer and that she had big plans for landscaping or planting in her yard. But when he saw the potbellied pig and realized that the compact porker was doing his business 15 feet from Rawls’ kitchen door, Rawls changed his mind.
“It’s closer to me than it is to her back door,” he said. “I asked her to pick it up, and she said she would see about doing it, but it only really happened a few times.”
Rawls admits taking some action to try to direct Sooie away from his preferred restroom location. He sprayed rabbit and pet repellent that is supposed to keep furry creatures out of gardens and flower beds. He sprinkled red-pepper flakes and powder, and bought a device that emits subsonic sounds that are supposed to irritate, and thus dissuade, but not hurt animals. None of it worked, he said. Latham was not pleased when she learned of his efforts.
“You don’t mess with people’s children or their pets; that’s rule No. 1,” she said.
Rawls said he asked at least once more that Latham pick up the pig’s poop, but Latham said she and Rawls never really sat down to work on a compromise for the situation.
For Rawls, the situation has now gone past compromise.
“I want them to make potbellied pigs illegal,” he said. “To me, it makes no sense that you could raise a swine in a backyard inside the city. It’s just not the right place for it.”
Latham said she’d be happy to abide by any regulations the city decides to pass, as long as she can keep her pet.
“He’s got a veterinarian; he gets wormed; he’s neutered,” she said. “If it comes down to it, I can get him all the shots and vaccinations they want him to have. I’ll register him, pay a fee. I’ll abide by a number restriction or whatever else, but he’s part of our family.”
Roark said the advisory board will make a recommendation to the city Board of Directors, which will make the final decision on any potbellied-pig rules. He said the board will also decide whether any new rules will grandfather in pigs already living in the city limits.
In the instance of pitbull dogs, those already in the city were not exempted from registration and breed restrictions that the city passed.
The city applies livestock restrictions to pygmy goats, which were at the center of a legal battle in 2007 and 2008. The miniature goats must be kept at least 300 feet from residences.
The Animal Services Advisory Board voted against changing the city’s ordinances to allow for pygmy goats as pets in 2008, according to city records.
The advisory board will hold its potbellied-pig public hearing on Aug. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Southwest Community Center at 6401 Base Line Road.