AR-News: Elma Woman Cries 'Fowl' Over Chicken-Napping

[jim robertson]

Elma Woman Cries 'Fowl' Over Chicken-Napping

June 24, 2004

By Bryan Johnson


ELMA - An Elma woman suspects her pet chicken was grabbed by the city -- or 
an angry neighbor.

Betty Anderson says she always takes cares of strays and the bedraggled 
chicken, which showed up in her backyard about two months ago, is no 
exception.

She went to a feed store, got information about chicken feed, and started 
fattening up the bird she calls "Chickee."

But two weeks ago, the city of Elma sent her a letter telling her it was 
illegal to keep a chicken. They gave her 14 days to get rid of it.

The deadline was this past Monday.

On Wednesday, her local newspaper put her and the Elma chicken flap on the 
front page.

Anderson decided to fight. She told KOMO 4 News: "She's a pet. She's not 
livestock. She's not poultry."

Chickee lived on Betty's porch and had a nest in Betty's backyard.

Betty was so attached to Chickee, she got an attorney who advised her to 
"describe the chicken as a companion animal."

Her doctor wrote a prescription saying Chickee helped Betty fight anxiety 
and depression.

Most of Betty's neighbors have dogs, but if she wanted a chicken, with most, 
that's OK. But one did file a complaint. That led to the 14-day notice.

The city wanted Chickee gone by Monday. On Wednesday, just a few hours 
before the newspaper arrived, Chickee vanished.

Betty Anderson told KOMO 4 News: "She's still gone. She's gone. She's not 
coming back. I know she's been chicken-napped."

Betty wondered if someone at City Hall grabbed Chickee.

We asked Elma Mayor David Osgood: "Mr. Mayor, did the city grab the 
chicken?" Osgood replied: "No, we did not grab the chicken."

The neighbor who filed the complaint tells KOMO 4 news she didn't take the 
chicken either.

The mayor says he believes the chicken was a runaway from a farm just across 
the road from Anderson's home. The mayor suggested maybe the chicken crossed 
the road again.

Anderson says she doesn't find the incident humorous at all, she says it's a 
matter of citizen rights and she will continue to fight city hall on issues 
like this.

http://www.komotv.com/stories/31880.htm


I would sooner expect a goat to succeed as a gardener than expect humans to 
become responsible stewards of the Earth. --
James Lovelock


It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of the 
existence of Man. --
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon  1135-1204