The Ohio Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by a military veteran who sought to defy a local ordinance and keep pet ducks to help relieve his post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Darin Welker of West Lafayette was convicted of a minor misdemeanor for violating a ban on keeping farm animals. A state appeals court upheld his conviction in June. Welker served with the U.S. Army in Iraq and was medically discharged from the Ohio National Guard.