HUNTINGTON COUNTY, Ind. (WPTA21) – The City of Huntington forced a man with autism to give up his emotional support animal.

ABC21 talked with Tiffany Henderson from Huntington. Henderson said her 18-year-old son is autistic and has a difficult time expressing emotions.

“It’s hard with a child with disability because you know that they’re going to have struggles,” Henderson said.

For several years, Henderson said she explored different emotional support animals such as dogs and cats to help her son. She said none of them seemed to work, however, one animal that did was a goat her son met at a 4-H Fair. She said her son and the goat bonded.

“I don’t know why he chose that particular one. That’s the one he chose…it’s a fun and pretty thing to watch, to see your kid respond finally,” Henderson said.

Henderson said her son named the goat Oliver. She said her son and Oliver bonded for more than a year. She said she saw progress in her son’s emotional response with Oliver around.

“For him to randomly walk up to a classmate or somebody at school and say would you like to come over to my house and see my goat? It gave him something to be proud of,” Henderson said. “It gave him something to talk about.”

That all changed. Henderson said the Huntington Police and workers with the Animal Care and Control stopped by her house a few weeks ago and notified her that she had to remove the goat.

Officials with the City of Huntington said according to Section 91.09 of the City’s Code of Ordinance, city owners must have at least five acres of land in order to own one.

Henderson said she complied and removed the goat.

“Every day he asks if today is going to be the day, if today’s the day we’re going to get him (Oliver) back and every day we tell him it’s a process and that we’re fighting and asking, but we have to jump through hoops,” Henderson said.

ABC21 talked with a few neighbors about the situation.

“It breaks my heart because the goat wasn’t hurting anybody, and now I don’t know what he’s doing to cope,” Sonia Sexton, a neighbor said.

“I didn’t think it was right,” Fred Gordon, a neighbor said. “It doesn’t hurt the neighborhood. It doesn’t hurt anything, so I don’t see the harm in it.”

ABC21 reached out to the City of Huntington for a response. An attorney with the city sent a statement:

“The matter is currently under advisement and is on the agenda of the Board of Public Works and Safety’s next meeting,” said Michael Hartburg, City Attorney for the City of Huntington.

Henderson’s attorney said if the request for a reasonable accommodation under advisement is denied, he will pursue a complaint with the Indiana Civil Rights Division and/or will seek litigation in state or federal court.