GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A zoning board in Michigan’s Ottawa County has ruled that a boy with autism can keep his emotional support ducks, according to WXMI.
It’s a story that’s gotten a lot of attention in recent weeks: Dylan Dyke’s family has been fighting a Georgetown Township ordinance after neighbors complained to the board that the ducks, Nibbles and Bill, were a nuisance.
Dylan’s parents, Mark and Jennifer Dyke, requested a variance to the ordinance that would allow them to keep the ducks. Wednesday’s decision came down to a few details about how and where the ducks would be kept.
Board members said there were some concerns about the containment of the ducks as well as noise and odor. The board decided the ducks must be kept in a completely enclosed and covered coop that will be in the backyard and 10 feet from any neighboring property lines.
The coop also cannot be bigger than 80 square feet, and the ducks can not roam free in the yard unless Dylan is with them.
Dylan and his parents were overjoyed that he can keep the ducks, and are relieved that their long fight is finally over.
“This has been an exhausting process, we’ve been at it since May,” Jen Dyke said. “And Dylan has really felt the pressure and the exhaustion from all of this. We’re ready to move on with our lives and Dylan just wants his normal back. He just wants his ducks.”
