Judge bans Ontario man from bringing python as mental-health service animal to family court proceedings

An Ontario man has been ordered by a Superior Court judge not to bring a snake to ongoing proceedings in a family law dispute.

According to a November 2025 decision by Justice Calum MacLeod, the man appeared at a family court case conference with an albino ball python named “Rico,” insisting that the snake was a service animal.

The man, identified in the MacLeod ruling as Daniel King, presented documentation stating that he required the snake for his mental well-being and it was accredited as a service animal. And even though the other party to the dispute, identified as Michelle Lee Parker, objected to the presence of the snake in the courtroom, the conference proceeded with the python present.

Parker then brought a motion before the Superior Court in Brockville, Ont. to ban “Rico” and any other snake from future proceedings.

In reviewing the evidence, Justice MacLeod wrote that “the ‘doctor’ who wrote the note stating that (King) needed the presence of the service animal is not a person registered with any (Ontario medical colleges). Furthermore the ‘certificate’ appears to be from a non-existent national registry of service animals.”

Parker argued that “the use of the snake as a service animal is a fraud and is simply a mechanism to intimidate her,” wrote MacLeod, adding that she attested in the motion materials that she has a snake phobia and King knew it.

MacLeod noted that King had been served with notice of the motion as well as Parker’s motion materials, but he neither responded nor filed any material presenting his side of the story.

“I am satisfied on the evidence that Rico is not a service animal within the meaning of any applicable standard or legislation,” wrote MacLeod. While he recognized that various types of service animals may be required by individuals with physical or mental disabilities, he stated that “t here is no evidence” King suffered from a disability requiring accommodation through the “use of a snake as a service animal.”

Moreover, he wrote, when an animal “interferes with the administration of justice or negatively impacts other participants in the justice system, the use of the service animal in the courtroom may be prohibited.”

MacLeod decided to leave it to the presiding family court judge to review any future evidence from King that he requires the presence of a service animal. But he ruled that King will have to bring another motion to support such a claim. He ordered a ban against King from “bringing Rico or any other service animal” into the courthouse without leave.

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