The Ohio Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by a military veteran who sought to defy local law and keep pet ducks that he says help relieve his post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Darin Welker was convicted of a minor misdemeanor for violating a ban on keeping farm animals in West Lafayette, about 80 miles east of Columbus. A state appeals court upheld his conviction in June.
Welker has argued that the half-dozen ducks have been therapeutic for him after he served in Iraq with the Army and was medically discharged from the Ohio National Guard.
Welker previously suggested he'd try to get his property removed from the village if the appeals route didn't work. A message seeking comment was left Wednesday for his attorney, Robert Weir.
