Michigan township allows boy with autism to keep therapy ducks

: In this Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018 photo, Dylan Dyke, a 12-year-old Michigan boy with autism, spends time with his ducks, Nibbles, left, and Bill, outside his Georgetown Township, Mich. home. New guidelines will allow Dyke to keep his ducks, which are his emotional support animals. Georgetown Township officials had issued a nuisance order to Mark and Jennifer Dyke after receiving multiple complaints from neighbors about their son Dylan’s ducks straying from their property. An ordinance variance approved Wednesday night, Sept. 26 includes guidelines, including specifics on the ducks’ coop. (Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

: In this Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018 photo, Dylan Dyke, a 12-year-old Michigan boy with autism, spends time with one of his ducks, Nibbles, outside his Georgetown Township, Mich. home. New guidelines will allow Dylan to keep his ducks, which are his emotional support animals. Georgetown Township officials had issued a nuisance order to Mark and Jennifer Dyke after receiving multiple complaints from neighbors about their son Dylan’s ducks straying from their property. An ordinance variance approved Wednesday night, Sept. 26 includes guidelines, including specifics on the ducks’ coop. (Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

: In this Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018 photo, Dylan Dyke, a 12-year-old Michigan boy with autism, spends time with one of his ducks, Nibbles, outside his Georgetown Township, Mich. home. New guidelines will allow Dyke to keep his ducks, which are his emotional support animals. Georgetown Township officials had issued a nuisance order to Mark and Jennifer Dyke after receiving multiple complaints from neighbors about their son Dylan’s ducks straying from their property. An ordinance variance approved Wednesday night, Sept. 26 includes guidelines, including specifics on the ducks’ coop. (Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

: In this Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018 photo, Dylan Dyke, a 12-year-old Michigan boy with autism, poses for a picture with his parents, Mark and Jen Dyke, inside his duck-themed bedroom of their Georgetown Township, Mich. home. New guidelines will allow Dylan to keep his ducks, which are his emotional support animals. Georgetown Township officials had issued a nuisance order to Mark and Jennifer Dyke after receiving multiple complaints from neighbors about their son Dylan’s ducks straying from their property. An ordinance variance approved Wednesday night, Sept. 26 includes guidelines, including specifics on the ducks’ coop. (Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — New guidelines will allow a 12-year-old western Michigan boy with autism to keep his ducks, which are his emotional support animals.

Georgetown Township officials had issued a nuisance order to Mark and Jennifer Dyke after receiving multiple complaints from neighbors about their son’s ducks straying from their property. The complaints cited concerns about the ducks’ unpleasant smell and their impact on area property values.

The Dykes requested an ordinance variance to allow their son, Dylan, to keep the ducks and members of the township’s zoning appeals board were open to the idea. A variance approved Wednesday night includes 18 guidelines, including specifics on the coop for the ducks named Bill and Nibbles.