Knight-Matney retires as Bella Vista Animal Shelter director

Photo submitted Dee Dee Knight-Matney retired earlier this month after 13 years as a volunteer, then board member and finally executive director of the Bella Vista Animal Shelter.
Photo submitted Dee Dee Knight-Matney retired earlier this month after 13 years as a volunteer, then board member and finally executive director of the Bella Vista Animal Shelter.

BELLA VISTA -- When the Bella Vista Animal Shelter manager started calling her a "mutt magnet," Dee Dee Knight-Matney wasn't thinking about a career change.

She and her husband were in construction and had been building homes all over Bella Vista. She volunteered occasionally at the shelter and went to its events.

She was on the way home from a shelter event in 2002 when she came across six puppies running down Highlands Boulevard. Naturally, she had to stop and scoop up all six puppies. She put them in the back of her car with her own two dogs and took the whole pack home.

She ended up fostering the puppies until space was found for them at the shelter. That year she had already brought in several stray dogs.

A board member heard the story and asked Knight-Matney to join the Shelter's Board of Directors in 2002. She agreed and took on the job of treasurer. In 2008, they asked her to become the executive director.

The shelter has always been a nonprofit organization. It was started by volunteers long before the city of Bella Vista was incorporated. In recent years, the city has helped with expenses, Knight-Matney said, but the shelter wants to remain independent even if that means it has to raise most of its budget with fundraisers like the Wiener Take All races.

It's important to remain independent, she said, because that way the shelter can retain its low euthanasia rate. The rate stays well below 1%. The only animals that the shelter puts down have major medical issues that can't be solved or are so aggressive they pose a danger to humans. There have been several dogs and cats that have lived most of their lives at the shelter, often in the small office with the staff.

When she accepted the position of executive director, the shelter was only one older building with a tiny office. Volunteers had built an addition, but unfortunately the volunteers had more enthusiasm than experience and the addition had structural problems. The septic system wasn't adequate for the amount of water used daily.

"It was pretty much fix and repair daily, but we were still doing good things," she said.

Then Beagleville happened. A breeder was arrested in Centerton, and 72 beagles were confiscated. They were spilt between the Humane Society Shelter in Rogers and the Bella Vista Animal Shelter.

The staff scrambled to create 10 covered, outdoor runs for the new occupants. Then they were told that the dogs would be there for at least a year while the case against the breeder went through the courts. It was obvious something had to be done.

In 2005, Nibbles House was built. It's still in use. Knight-Matney used every connection she had among the contractors she knew and the subcontractors she had worked with to get materials and even some labor donated.

"When situations arise, you just have to shift and do the best you can with what you have," she said. The office and more dog runs were added later. Occasionally, the original building is still used. A low-kill shelter will always fill up eventually, she explained.

It was a few years later when Bella Vista residents started asking for a dog park. Knight-Matney remembers looking at the land behind the shelter that was owned by Cooper Communities, but Tom Wooters, who runs the nearby Village Waste Water plant, was serving on the POA's Board of Directors. He had already helped build a ball field near the Loch Lomond Dam and he knew that would be a better spot for the dog park. Wooters went to Cooper and got permission to use the space, and they began raising funds to buy the materials for a dog park.

Volunteers built it, Knight-Matney remembered, and the POA agreed to mow the area along with the ball field. The K9 Corral opened in 2010.

In 2006, volunteer Ron Krolikowski brought the board an idea for a fundraiser that exceeded all expectations. The Wiener Take All Races have been successful ever since. The event had to be canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of covid-19.

The last two years have been difficult, Knight-Matney said. The only fundraiser that happened in 2020 was a golf tournament. In 2021, a few other fundraisers were held. The city pitched in with some extra funding.

This year, she had to make the difficult decision to retire for medical reasons. She didn't want to do it, but she felt it was necessary. She knew she could no longer do the work.

"I don't want anyone to think that I turned my back on the shelter. If my body would allow it, I would be there," she said. She hopes that one day she'll be able to return as a volunteer.

Photo submitted 
Curt Stoops, a member of the Bella Vista Animal Shelter Board of Directors, welcomes
Nancy Cullins as interim Executive Director.  The board plans to search for a permanent replacement for long time director Dee Dee Knight-Matney.
Photo submitted Curt Stoops, a member of the Bella Vista Animal Shelter Board of Directors, welcomes Nancy Cullins as interim Executive Director. The board plans to search for a permanent replacement for long time director Dee Dee Knight-Matney.

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