In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania people were cooling off at a local fountain. They received quite the shock when walking next to them, was a young girl walking an alligator on a leash.
Video footage from LOVE Park in Philadelphia taken on Friday shows the child, trailed by the Aligator, which was comfortably lying on its stomach to cool off in a puddle.
Wally the Alligator, was wearing a collor and is a federally registered emotional support pet. Wally is four years old and was rescued from Orlando, Florida. According to his owner, Joie Henney, when an alligator is rescued they are considered a nuisance and can not be released back into the wild.
This is NOT a drill there is an emotional support alligator in Love Park pic.twitter.com/xU7TTs6y2V
— Britt (@brimil) August 26, 2022
Apparently, Wally is a very friendly alligator and let people in the park pet him.
Wally is famous in his hometown in York, PA. Henney is a reptile lover and has a whole room dedicated to his pets which includes more alligators. Henney admits having an alligator registered as an emotional support pet is crazy.
In an interview about Wally, Henney said, “I went through a real hard depression and he brought me out of it.”
He continued saying, “My doctor wanted to give me anti-depression medicine and I refused to take it.” Henney credits his pet alligator for bringing him out of his depression.
Henney claims alligators are easier to train than dogs.
In the video below, you can see an interview done with Henney and his pet Alligator, Wally. You even watch as Henney gives kisses and hugs to his alligator! You have to see it to believe it!
Wally also frequents local restaurants, and malls as well as parties. Henney even admitted that during parties, children will occasionally sit on the alligator and take pictures. Henney does not charge anything for these events, however, he does accept donations. In the video, you can see families and little children petting the gator.
