By Kevin Hanson-The Courier-Herald
There must be something special about a story involving a young girl and her favorite, feathered friend.
Why else would the tale of 11-year-old Hannah Dahlquist and her pet chicken have made international news?
Well, perhaps the fact that the chicken rides a skateboard played a role. Any bird riding almost anything will generate interest.
Whatever the case, the saga of Hannah and Fancy Pants got media types crowing.
The Enumclaw Middle School student unintentionally became the center of a mild brouhaha in July, sparking a debate that involved both city and county government and landed on network news stations near and far.
At the center of the story is the sixth-grader and her parents, Jeff and Cathy, who live in the middle of a typical Enumclaw neighborhood. Their house sits on a near-acre lot on Florence Street, which also is home to an outbuilding that houses Fancy Pants and five hens.
Shortly after Hannah and Fancy Pants placed second in the King County Fair's annual Critter Crowning contest, the family received a letter from King County Animal Control. The letter outlined that a complaint had been lodged, because the pet rooster had been “annoying one of your neighbors.”
If the complaint was valid, the county official wrote, the Dahlquist's should “take immediate action to end this violation.”
The penalty for failing to heed the county warning? The misdemeanor offense could have brought a fine of $250 and a jail term of up to 90 days, with the possibility of a civil penalty as much as $1,000.
The bottom line, as far as Hannah and Fancy Pants are concerned, is that the rooster remains at home, where he rules the roost.
Enumclaw officials have said chickens don't fall under the city's prohibition against livestock. And an officer with Animal Control left the Dahlquist's a phone message indicating the county was less than enthused with taking action.
When the controversy was brewing, the Dahlquists learned what happens when a story strikes the media's fancy.
A Seattle newspaper and television station reported on the ongoing drama, making the story available for news outlets everywhere. And the media lapped it up.
The story was relayed by stations as far away as Bangor, Maine, Tucson, Ariz. and Austin, Texas. Hannah did a radio interview with a station in Norfolk, Va., and the story made Nick News, an offering of the kid-friendly Nickelodeon TV network.
The story is even linked to the home page of skateboard icon Tony Hawk.
You see, the ‘boarding bird also goes by the handle Tony Chickenhawk.
“I really wasn't used to it,” Hannah said of the new-found attention.
Through it all, she had just one desire. Keeping her pet rooster at home, she said, “was pretty much all I wanted.”
Kevin Hanson can be reached at khanson@courierherald.com.
