Literally, no cat in King County has a rap sheet longer than Miska. The brown tabby has actually racked up thousands of dollars in fines while allegedly roaming her Bellevue neighborhood.
“The infractions, they just keep piling up,” stated her attorney, Jon Zimmerman.
The poor cat even did hard time in King County’s “kitty jail.” She’s currently turning to Pierce County to have her day in court.
Miska’s troubles all began back in 2014, when her human, whose name is Anna Danieli, started receiving violations for the 10-year-old brown tabby’s behavior. Alleged infractions atually included alleged trespassing and being a “vicious animal at large.” Zimmerman explained to the Times that Miska “is a normal 10-year-old cat. She is very loving. She is social. She is friendly. She is intelligent, and she is really an excellent feline companion.” Her lawsuit demands that all violations against Miska be dropped and the Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) determination that she is “vicious” be voided, according to the Times.
In just one of at least 30 complaints against Miska, a neighbor referred to her as “beautiful but predatory,” an “exotic cat” and a “cheetah,” and claimed the tabby taunted the neighbor’s cats through their windows.
Danieli explains that in her lawsuit that Miska has been targeted because former RASKC Manager Gene Mueller lived in her neighborhood.
“…. of the approximately 20,000 infractions filed by RASKC over a ten-year period, approximately 50 involved cats, and most of these infractions involved Miska,” the lawsuit quotes.
When Miska was born, she was allowed to run and roam free in her neighborhood, but the lawsuit claims that changed sometime later. Danieli’s lawsuit claims that a total of four prosecutors have been assigned to Miska, and former RASKC manager Mueller tried to have the tabby euthanized in 2014.
“RASKC Manager Gene Mueller determined that Miska was ‘vicious’ and, in pursuit of his desire to separate Miska from Danieli and Miska’s family, Manager Mueller signed an order to have Miska euthanized or deported from King County,” the lawsuit goes on to say.
Miska’s life was obviously spared, however, her troubles continued. In 2017, the lawsuit stated, “RASKC personnel encouraged another of Danieli’s neighbors to file one or more complaints against Miska for purported trespassing on a neighbor’s property.”
RASKC then actually trapped Miska and took her to “kitty jail” — an animal control facility. She actually spent months there, “until she made bail” by way of kenneling fees paid by Danieli. While she was in the slammer, Danieli’s lawsuit said, Miska was kept in “solitary confinement” and also denied visitation rights.
Danieli is even now struggling to get Miska’s case heard, according to the Times:
Ultimately, Miska’s case ended up before the King County hearing examiner, who Danieli is arguing does not have jurisdiction.
The Bellevue City Code states the King County Board of Appeals is where a case goes when someone contests a violation from RASKC.
However, that particular board stopped hearing such cases back in 2016, and since then they’ve gone to the hearing examiner.
Since Bellevue City Code hadn’t yet been changed to reflect that, Danieli argues the hearing examiner does not have jurisdiction over the city’s animal enforcement cases and that all of Miska’s violations should be voided.
