A Bonney Lake woman is questioning Bonney Lake’s dog laws after her 2-year-old pet Meesha was first deemed “potentially dangerous” and later impounded for running loose.

Now, because of the “potentially dangerous” label, the owner is facing the possibility of having to pay a $50,000 bond to get her dog released or potentially having Meesha put down, all over an incident involving a neighbor’s chickens.

But Darcie Severson says Meesha, her 23-pound chow mix, is only guilty of chasing chickens in a neighbor’s yard and should not be locked up as though she attacked a human.

“They’re using the word ‘attack’ like she’s vicious,” Severson said “My dog is not an attack dog at all.”

“I guess I didn’t realize at the time that a chicken and a human are the same,” she said.

Meesha has been impounded at Metro Animal Services in Puyallup since Feb. 11, the day she was seen in the street by a neighbor. But Meesha’s story begins a week earlier, on Feb. 4, when the dog was found in a neighbor’s yard, chasing and allegedly killing chickens.

Severson said her dog is gentle and would not kill a chicken. She blamed the attack on coyotes, which she said have attacked the neighbor’s chickens in the past.

But according to Bonney Lake Police Chief Mike Mitchell, Meesha was seen not only with a dead chicken in her mouth, but chasing other chickens, including a rooster.

“They witnessed the dog chewing on a (live) rooster,” Mitchell said. “It came away with a mouthful of tail feathers.”

Because of the situation, Meesha was labeled “potentially dangerous,” which according to code includes the unprovoked biting of a domestic animal, or to otherwise “threaten the safety of humans or domestic animals,” which includes chickens.

After being declared “potentially dangerous,” dogs are required by law to be confined indoors on in a pen and are not allowed off the owner’s land unless leashed and “humanely muzzled,” otherwise the animal can be impounded.

On Feb. 11, Meesha was seen running in the street in front of Severson’s home. According to Severson, her son let the dog out to go to the bathroom and a neighbor spotted her in the street. Authorities were called and Meesha was impounded.

On March 12, a Bonney Lake Hearing Examiner heard Severson’s appeal and found in favor of the city, upholding Meesha’s declaration as a potentially dangerous dog.

Now, according to Jason Wilson, administrative manger for the Sumner Police Department and contact for Metro Animal Services, Meesha can only be released if Severson agrees to get $50,000 liability insurance policy, a license and has proper confinement at her home, including a kennel with four sides and a top.

“She follows these guidelines we’ll release her dog to her,” Mitchell said. “It’s been that way since February.”

Severson is appealing the hearing examiner’s decision to Pierce County and said she cannot afford to pay for a bond in that amount.

As Severson sees it, Metro should not even be still holding her dog. She points to a Bonney Lake Municipal Code that states a dog should be released to the owner within 48 hours, meaning her animal should have been released to her months ago.

But according to Wilson, Meesha is not impounded, but being held in “protective custody,” meaning Severson is not racking up the daily impound charge.

Wilson said Bonney Lake has instructed Metro to hold the animal until after Severson’s appeal in July.

Having Meesha out of the house and impounded has taken an emotional toll on Severson, who tears up as she tries to talk about her pet, whom she said is incredibly gentle and used to sleep at the foot of her bed.

“This is my family dog,” she said. “It’s just so unbelievable.”

Severson also doesn’t think her dog is dangerous, except perhaps to a chicken.

“She’s not dangerous to the public unless we’ve got chickens running all over the city and I don’t think we do,” Severson said. “They’re acting like this dog took down a police officer.”

Mitchell said there is “a lot of misinformation” in the public about this case and said the city and officers are being painted as “bad guys.”

“In fact, her dog killed a chicken,” he said.

Mitchell said holding Meesha as long as they have is unusual as dangerous dogs who are not claimed after this length of time are usually put down. Mitchell said the hope is that Severson will pay the fines and get the bond so she can take Meesha home.

“Our goal is to get her reunited with her dog, yet still protect neighbors and their property and their pets,” he said.

For her part, Severson said she will continue with her appeal and then hopes to get the city to change its code so in the future dogs who attack birds are not considered as dangerous as those who attack human beings, but worries that until that law is changed, her appeals may fall on deaf ears.

“If I go to court again it’s not going to make any difference,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes, “because basically the law says a chicken and a person are the same thing.”