Quantcast
Published On: Thu, Oct 30th, 2014

Ohio Vet, Darin Welker, found guilty and fined for keeping ducks to cope with PTSD

A veteran Ohio who was cited for keeping ducks within city limits to cope with PTSD was found guilty Wednesday.

Credits:   United States Government photo

Credits: United States Government photo

Darin Welker, 36, was fined $50 for violating the county’s ordinance by keeping 14 ducks in his backyard. Welker said the ducks help him cope with post traumatic stress disorder and depression he developed after serving a year in Iraq with the Army National Guard in 2005.

Prosecuting Attorney James Skelton made the argument in court that the case was cut and dry: the ordinance, states that no farm animals, including ducks, may be kept within village limits and no federal law exists that trumps it.

“The ordinance says there are no ducks, then there are no ducks,” Skelton told Judge France. “Your hands are tied.”

Welker was cited for the minor misdemeanor in June. Since then, the case has developed into a battle between local government officials trying to maintain the letter of the law and an Army veteran trying to heal from mental and physical wounds.

After Welker pleaded not guilty to the charge, his attorney, Bob Weir, filed an affirmative defense, meaning that the facts concerning Welker’s situation should be enough to excuse what is otherwise illegal conduct.

Testifying on Wednesday, Welker’s wife, Shirley Wagner, argued that since the ducks are registered with a national service registry as emotional support animals, and since no neighbors have personally complained to them, they should be permitted.

On the DISPATCH: Headlines  Local  Opinion

Subscribe to Weekly Newsletter

* indicates required
/ ( mm / dd ) [ALL INFO CONFIDENTIAL]

About the Author

- Roxanne "Butter" Bracco began with the Dispatch as Pittsburgh Correspondent, but will be providing reports and insights from Washington DC, Maryland and the surrounding region. Contact Roxie aka "Butter" at theglobaldispatch@gmail ATTN: Roxie or Butter Bracco

Displaying 2 Comments
Have Your Say
  1. Iraq vet convicted for owning pet ducks to relieve PTSD – CBS News | perfectbacon.com says:

    […] therapy ducksDaily MailIraq War Veteran Sentenced For Raising Ducks10TVBeta Wired -The Global Dispatchall 123 news […]

  2. Ohio veteran plans to continue fight to keep ‘PTSD and depression’ therapy ducks – Daily Mail | perfectbacon.com says:

    […] help his PTSDKRMGArmy veteran fined over pet ducks he says help with PTSDBayoubuzzBeta Wired -The Global Dispatchall 123 news […]

Leave a comment

XHTML: You can use these html tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

like_us_on_facebook

 

The Global Dispatch Facebook page- click here

Movie News Facebook page - click here

Television News Facebook page - click here

Weird News Facebook page - click here 

DISPATCH RADIO

dispatch_radio

THE BRANDON JONES SHOW

brandon_jones_show-logo

Archives