(BRUNSWICK, Ga.) – A Pennsylvania man who credits an alligator named Wally with helping alleviate his depression for nearly a decade says he is searching for the reptile after it went missing while on vacation on the Georgia coast.
Joie Henney has thousands of social media users following his pages dedicated to Wally, the cold-blooded companion he calls his emotional support crocodile. He posted photos and videos online of people petting the 1.7 meter crocodile like a dog or hugging him like a teddy bear. Wally’s popularity reached new heights last year when the alligator was entry denied to a Philadelphia Phillies game.
Now Henney says he is distraught after Wally disappeared while accompanying him on April vacation in Brunswick, Ga., a port city 70 miles south of Savannah. He said he suspects someone stole Wally from the fenced-in outdoor enclosure where Wally spent the night on April 21.
In social media posts, Henney said the pranksters left Wally outside the home of someone who called authorities, resulting in his alligator being captured and set free.
“We need all the help we can get to get my baby back,” Henney said in a tearful video posted to TikTok. “Please, we need your help.”
Henney said he didn’t have time to talk when The Associated Press contacted him by phone Wednesday morning. He did not immediately return follow-up messages.
The Jonestown, Pennsylvania, man previously said he got Wally in 2015 after the alligator was rescued in Florida at 14 months old. Henney said The Philadelphia Inquisitor in 2019, that Wally helped alleviate depression following the deaths of several close friends. He said a doctor treating his depression endorsed Wally’s status as his emotional support animal.
“He never tried to bite anyone,” Henney told the newspaper.
No one has filed police reports about the missing alligator in Brunswick and surrounding Glynn County, according to spokespeople for the city and county police departments.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources confirmed that someone in the Brunswick area reported a nuisance alligator on April 21 — the day Henney said Wally went missing — and that a licensed trapper was sent to capture it. The agency said in a statement that the alligator was “released in a remote location,” but stressed that it does not know whether the reptile was Wally.
It is illegal in Georgia for people to keep alligators without a license or special permit, and the state Department of Natural Resources says it does not issue permits for pet alligators. Pennsylvania has no state law against owning alligators, although it is illegal for owners to release them into the wild, according to their report. Fisheries and Boat Commission.
David Mixon, a wildlife biologist and coastal supervisor with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, has handled many reported alligators in people’s yards and swimming pools. He also showed captive alligators in presentations to school groups and Boy Scout troops.
He said that even alligators that appear docile can be dangerous and he always makes a point of keeping their mouth closed with his hand or, preferably, a bandage.
“They are unpredictable and often react to stimuli,” Mixon said. “There are many videos and photos where people handle alligators, and do so without getting hurt. You’re likely to get hurt.”
State wildlife officials in neighboring Florida, home to about 1.3 million alligators, have recorded more than 450 cases of unprovoked alligators biting humans since 1948. This includes more than 90 alligator bites since 2014, six of them fatal.
In areas where people can legally own alligators, they may be considered emotional support animals, said Lori Kogan, a psychologist and professor at Colorado State University who studies human-animal interactions.
Unlike service animals that help people with disabilities, such as blindness or post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional support animals do not have special training, Kogan said. They also have no official registration, although healthcare professionals often write letters of endorsement for owners with a diagnosed mental health problem.
“People can become very attached to a variety of animals,” Kogan said. “Can you get attached to a reptile? Can this bring you comfort? I would say yes. I personally? No.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
