This is the story of a man, his community and his ducks.

A quacky headline does little to express Darin Welker’s story of personal struggle and friendship. Welker, a wounded combat veteran from West Lafayette, Ohio, has suffered from PTSD and depression since coming home from Iraq with a major back injury in 2005. The Department of Veteran Affairs footed the bill for back surgery, but it didn’t provide Welker any additional physical therapy or counseling.

Where the VA failed, ducks succeeded. Raising 14 birds in his yard gave Welker a new reason to get up in the morning, and caring for them soothes Welker’s anxiety and depression. In fact, they helped him cope with his condition so well that he had the animals registered as emotional-support animals at the local VA hospital.

“They make me laugh a lot, running around chasing each other, being goofy like ducks, cocking their heads at me trying to figure out who’s dumber,” Welker said of his ducks. “They relax me and lift my spirits.”

Unfortunately, his community didn’t feel the same way. Welker was slapped with a $50 fine and convicted for violating the village ban on farm animals. Welker paid the fine and gave away all but six of his prized ducks, but his attempt to appeal his conviction was rejected on the grounds that emotional support animals are just “pets that make their owners feel better,” not true therapy animals.

Now Welker is taking his case all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court on the ground that the village is violating his 14th Amendment right to choose his own medical care.

“I’ve defended everybody else’s rights, and I expect my rights to be treated the same,” Welker said.

It will likely be months before the Supreme Court accepts or rejects his case. Until then, Welker will enjoy his ducks in peace.