Joie Henney from Pennsylvania has a very strong bond with an alligator that he has had the reptile registered as his own emotional support animal.
His four-year-old alligator, Willy, helped him through his depression and now he’s doing great.
“I went through a real hard depression, and he brought me out of it,” Henney shared. “He was just constantly cuddling and holding me. I’d take a nap and wake up and he’d be laying on my head.”
He went on: “My doctor wanted to give me anti-depressant medicine and I refused to take it. 30 days later when I went in to see my doctor and she said, ‘Well, what did you do? You’re doing really good’.
“I said, ‘I hung out with Wally!’”
His doctor said the change was just ‘incredible.’ He also issued a letter stating the alligator is an emotional support animal, and now Wally has all required legal documents.
Henny admitted that having a licensed emotional support alligator is ‘crazy’ but added that the adorable reptile enjoys a happy life with him.
“He is far from a typical alligator,” he shared. “He loves cuddling, he loves giving kisses, hugs – it’s just incredible.”
Aside from being able to explore around Henney’s home with fellow alligator named Scrappy, Wally also has an active social life.
The support alligator regularly goes for walks in the park with the proud owner. They also go together into local restaurants and sometimes they go swimming in the river.
“A lot of people say ‘Well, why don’t you put him out somewhere else and turn him back out into the wild?’” Henney added. “You can’t do that. When an alligator is rescued they’re classified as a ‘nuisance gator’.”
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