Pierce County sheriff's deputies Tesla Turner and West Jarvis didn't have much trouble clearing out the people squatting at a vacant South Hill house Monday.
The chickens were another matter.
Video posted to the Sheriff's Department Twitter feed shows the two deputies and Pierce County Animal Control officer Ray Wheeler trying to round up the handful of chickens there with varying degrees of success. One portion of the video shows Turner chasing a chicken into Jarvis' arms, and a photo shows Jarvis sprawled on the ground with another of the birds in his hands.
"Our job is always different every day," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss told The News Tribune. "Even though you go to 100 squatter calls all the time, this one is clearly different than the other ones."
The action took place at a house in the 10600 block of 136th Street Court East. Turner and Jarvis escorted 15-20 people out of the building, according to the Sheriff's Department.
"We would let them take their chickens," Moss said. "But they didn't claim the chickens were theirs. So it was like, 'Well, can't just leave them there because no one will be there to take care of them.'"
According to Moss, the chickens eventually were wrangled by Turner, Jarvis and Wheeler. Moss said he expects the birds will be checked for diseases and then up for adoption.
"If those are somebody's lost chickens, by chance, or they were stolen ... they can always get a hold of The Humane Society (of Tacoma & Pierce County) and claim the chickens," Moss said.
