A Pennsylvania man with an alligator is proving that emotional support pets can be both terrifying and comforting at the same time.
Joie Henney, 65, of Strinestown, Pennsylvania, lives with two alligators, one of which is a four-and-a-half-foot-long, registered emotional support animal called Wally.
Henney became Wally's owner in September 2015, after a gator-rescuing friend from Florida asked if he wanted a gator.
When Wally arrived at Henney's home, the gator was about 14 months old, measured only about one-and-a-half feet long and was apparently scared of everything — just like a dog or cat would be in a new environment.
Henney, who grew up on a hog farm, he had to use tongs to feed Wally at first, to avoid the possibility of losing a finger or an even larger body part, although he maintains that Wally has never bitten him or anyone else.
It took about a month to domesticate Wally, Henney said, at which point the gator 'was like a little puppy dog' and would follow Henney around the house.
Much like a dog, Henney said, Wally is territorial and considers and empty kitchen cupboard his home. The gator has also been known to knock over garbage cans and enjoys lying on the couch and bed and making a nest out of the blankets and sheets.
After getting Wally, Henney said he started taking the gator around to schools and senior centers for educational reasons, which was when he said that he started to notice that children with developmental issues, such as autism or Tourette's, seemed to be calmed by Wally's presence.
Henney went online and registered Wally as an emotional support animal in December 2018, instead.
While emotional support pets might not get any special privileges under federal law, Wally is now allowed to go almost anywhere with Henney, barring some restaurants that have rejected Wally's presence supposedly out of fear that the gator could carry salmonella.
Henney also noted that, unlike crocodiles and caimans, alligators don't usually attack humans unless they're attacked by humans first and that they don't actually like to eat human flesh.
Joie Henney, 65, of Strinestown, Pennsylvania, lives with two alligators, one of which is a four-and-a-half-foot-long, registered emotional support animal called Wally.
Henney became Wally's owner in September 2015, after a gator-rescuing friend from Florida asked if he wanted a gator.
When Wally arrived at Henney's home, the gator was about 14 months old, measured only about one-and-a-half feet long and was apparently scared of everything — just like a dog or cat would be in a new environment.
Henney, who grew up on a hog farm, he had to use tongs to feed Wally at first, to avoid the possibility of losing a finger or an even larger body part, although he maintains that Wally has never bitten him or anyone else.
It took about a month to domesticate Wally, Henney said, at which point the gator 'was like a little puppy dog' and would follow Henney around the house.
Much like a dog, Henney said, Wally is territorial and considers and empty kitchen cupboard his home. The gator has also been known to knock over garbage cans and enjoys lying on the couch and bed and making a nest out of the blankets and sheets.
After getting Wally, Henney said he started taking the gator around to schools and senior centers for educational reasons, which was when he said that he started to notice that children with developmental issues, such as autism or Tourette's, seemed to be calmed by Wally's presence.
Henney went online and registered Wally as an emotional support animal in December 2018, instead.
While emotional support pets might not get any special privileges under federal law, Wally is now allowed to go almost anywhere with Henney, barring some restaurants that have rejected Wally's presence supposedly out of fear that the gator could carry salmonella.
Henney also noted that, unlike crocodiles and caimans, alligators don't usually attack humans unless they're attacked by humans first and that they don't actually like to eat human flesh.
Music: "Daily Beetle" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: Daily Mail, Fox 13, AJC
Comments
Post a Comment