PINE BLUFF -- Pine Bluff Animal Control Department interim Director Hodges Stewart spends his days now hopping from his desk, where he answers the incessantly ringing telephone, to the front counter greeting the flow of visitors and back to his office, where other city employees meander in asking questions.
The department's administration has been in flux since last summer as the city's elected officials tussled over which umbrella it belonged under. A flurry of ordinances and vetoes vacillated between Animal Control being run by the police department or operating as its own stand-alone department.
The latest ordinance, passed Dec. 19, declared it a sovereign entity answerable only to the mayor.
But Stewart -- who stands at the ready with a head full of dreams for the department he has served for the past seven years -- and his fellow employees find themselves once again in limbo.
An ordinance reversing the transfer and placing animal control duties under the Police Department is up for its third and final reading and will be voted on by the City Council at its Feb. 21 meeting.
Ward 2 Alderman Win Trafford, who co-sponsored the ordinance with Ward 3 Alderman Bill Brumett, said he made the proposal so the council could pause and more succinctly plan a transition to a stand-alone department. Doing so too quickly, with a new administration and three new council members, could undo a lot of progress already made, he said.
"This was done by the previous council at the last minute," Trafford said. "We need time to plan for that move. I don't want any further damage done by hastily implementing a change that will result in budget adjustments and extra time for our employees."
Stewart, who was named Jan. 8 as interim director of the animal control department by new Mayor Shirley Washington, was conciliatory when asked his preference.
"There's no doubt that a stand-alone department is not a bad model," he said. "Both the police officers and animal control officers are only a phone call away when either is needed. At the end of the day, we all work as a unit."
Likewise, interim Police Chief Ivan Whitfield said that either way the decision goes next week, officers will work together for the benefit of the city and the animals.
Washington makes no bones about her stance that the department should stand on its own.
"I just feel like police officers are trained to fight crime and I think that's where their passion is going to be," Washington said. "Not to say they're not going to do a good job at running the animal control office, but they're trained to be police officers."
Trafford said fighting crime is another reason he believes the city would be better served by keeping animal control under the police department. Police officers who respond to animal issues, such as a stray dog or a dog bite, often see other criminal activity that would ordinarily be missed, Trafford said.
"It has allowed them to identify hot spots in our city," he said.
Stewart -- who is often referred to as the "dog whisperer" -- is certified by t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶i̶m̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶r̶o̶l̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶i̶c̶e̶r̶ the state Animal Control Association as a level 2 animal control officer* and travels around the state conducting certification classes for other animal control officers. He has seen the Pine Bluff department go from a 100 percent kill rate to only 15 percent of the more than 3,500 cats and dogs it takes in each year being euthanized.
H̶u̶n̶d̶r̶e̶d̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ A handful of* community members, including local high school and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff students, volunteer at the shelter. They help to care and feed the animals, hold fundraisers, foster animals in their homes until a permanent home is found, or assist in the cross-country rescue process that can take Pine Bluff dogs and cats as far away as Canada or New York.
Donations of dog food, toys and supplies are a constant. Local veterinarians offer spay and neuter services at a significantly reduced price.
Pine Bluff residents are passionate animal lovers, Hodges said. That fact was evidenced by the overwhelming support in 2011 for a five-eighths percent sales tax to, in part, fund construction of the $1.4 million animal shelter.
Ward 3 Alderman Donald Hatchett said his constituents are adamant that the animal control department should stand on its own.
"Any distraction in the police department from policing is not welcome," he said. "The animal control department, or the dog pound as it's known here, has functioned quite well as a stand-alone department before."
Police officers aren't trained to manage budgets and personnel or care for animals, Hatchett added.
"Hodges [Stewart] understands the rules when it comes to dealing with animals," he said. "We have found that our police department simply does not understand how to manage animals. It has not worked out well."
Animal control was a stand-alone department until 2013, when it became part of the Pine Bluff Police Department. Then last June, Sgt. Brad Vilches, the former director of the animal control division, shot an escaped pet pig. The pig had no identification tag in its ear, and there had been reports of wild hogs in the Jefferson Industrial Park area.
The City Council responded to the swine's death by voting 5-3 at its June 20 meeting to strip the police department of its animal control duties and created a sovereign animal control department. Three days after that, then-Mayor Debe Hollingsworth vetoed the council's decision. The subject remained divisive until the end of Hollingsworth's term.
The division's annual expenses grew by only 3 percent -- from $299,572.57 to $308,659.87 -- from 2012 when it was a stand-alone department to 2016, after four years under the police department. The increase includes an annual bond payment of about $75,000 for the new facility, which began in 2012.
The shelter's dog food costs have increased by more than 82 percent -- from $6,703.61 in 2012 to $12,187.64 in 2016. That increase can be attributed to the larger capacity of the new shelter, which can hold about 200 animals, Stewart said.
The animal control division's income -- generated from fines and fees -- dropped by 11.5 percent, from $20,301.58 to $17,963.16, over the same period.
By comparison, Little Rock's animal control is a division under the city's housing and neighborhood programs with annual expenses of about $1.2 million and revenue of about $250,000. About 17 staff members care for about 4,000 dogs and cats that come through the department each year.
North Little Rock's animal control is a separate city department and has a revenue of about $808,000 with nine staff members. About 3,361 animals were processed through the shelter after being picked up in North Little Rock or Pulaski County.
The animal control department and its success is vital to the success of Pine Bluff, Washington said.
"I think it's important because we do have a problem in our city with stray dogs, with abandoned animals," Washington said. "I think we need a strong department so that animals are properly rescued and cared for. Our neighborhoods are safer when we don't have stray animals running around.
"You want to have someone managing the department who is going to see to it that the facility is kept in good, clean order; someone who can determine what care an animal needs at any given time; and someone who is doing that in a professional manner at all times."
As for Stewart, either way, he's clinging to his dream of "building Rome" by implementing community education initiatives and staff training programs, pursuing grants for shelter improvements and additional amenities, and creating partnerships with local elementary schools.
"I want to get out and increase the knowledge of the community," Stewart said. "Pine Bluff is my home. It's such a great city with so much potential. We are very blessed. It all will happen. I've got a lot of dreams, but Rome wasn't built in a day."
State Desk on 02/13/2017
*CORRECTION: Pine Bluff Animal Control Interim Director Hodges Stewart is certified by the state Animal Control Association as a level 2 animal control officer. The department has a handful of volunteers from the community. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the certification and the number or volunteers.