- A man is desperately searching for his bizarre pet after an appalling animal theft.
It’s always devastating when your beloved pet goes missing. It’s hard to deal with the sheer uncertainty, no matter whether your friend is a dog, cat, mouse, or bird.
Or even an alligator.
For nearly a decade, Joie Henney from Pennsylvania has been receiving emotional support from a decidedly unusual animal. His four-legged friend and helper is called Wally, and he is an alligator.
Strange as the choice of animal might be, there’s no denying Wally (or WallyGator as he’s known online) has helped Henney. His scaly companion has relieved Henney’s depression with his excessively toothy grin.
Recently, however, a disaster struck. During their vacation in Georgia, somebody stole Wally.
The alligator was located relatively soon after the theft, but that didn’t result in a happy reunion. Instead, animal control assumed Wally was a wild animal and dumped him in a swamp somewhere in Georgia.
Henney has contacted the state’s animal control authorities and they say they will try to relocate his lost reptilian friend. The chances of them actually finding the right ‘gator, sadly, are next to zero.
Still, Henney hopes he may one day find Wally again.
A Strange ‘Gator
Wally is an extraordinary alligator in many ways. First of all, as far as we’re aware, he’s the one and only emotional support alligator in the world.
But perhaps more astounding is Wally’s refusal to bite things. In case you weren’t aware, alligators will never tame and are always ready to bite the hand that feeds them.
All except Wally.
“I’ve never met an alligator that will not bite you,” Henney admitted to the BBC. Yet, he’s able to play around with Wally without any fear of him chomping down.
“You can reach in and rub his tongue, he refuses to close his mouth, but we don’t know why,” Henney said.
It’s a good thing Wally is so docile. The six-foot-long beast has an estimated bite force of 3,000 pounds per square inch.
Yet, Wally loves using his awe-inspiring jaws to devour his favorite treat — cheese puffs.
Thanks to his mellow nature, though, Wally has been able to live with Henney for nearly his entire nine-year-long life. Sometimes, however, the two have run into issues.
In September 2023, for example, Henney and Wally were not allowed to go watch Philadelphia Phillies play baseball against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The stadium hosting the game allows “certified service dogs” but all other animals are banned — even if they’re for emotional support.
A Cruel Crime
Despite the occasional difficulties, Henney and Wally still go out to do things together, the man walking the alligator on a leash around parks. In mid-April, the two went on a vacation in Brunswick, Georgia.
That was a trip they soon regretted.
On the night of April 21, Wally disappeared from his pen. Henney was convinced that the alligator had been stolen, but he was initially hesitant to seek help as he had brought Wally to Georgia without proper permits.
Finally, however, he did file a police report. Lo and behold, Henney got some information on what had happened soon enough.
It turns out that someone did indeed steal Wally. The thief had taken the alligator to an unidentified person’s house and dumped it in the backyard, presumably to scare the owner.
The homeowner, on their part, did the thing that most people would do if they found a ‘gator in their yard — call animal control. As the trappers couldn’t even have guessed that harness-less Wally was an emotional support animal, they simply carried out their usual alligator-on-the-loose routine.
As such, Wally was taken with 20 other ‘gators to a Georgia swamp. He was then released and hasn’t been seen since.
Searching Against All Odds
Once he learned what had happened, Henney immediately got in touch with Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources. After what we presume was a series of confused discussions, he finally got through to the trapper who had removed Wally from the yard.
The trapper told him it was theoretically possible to find Wally — in the same sense that pigs could theoretically grow wings over the next few million years and take flight. They weren’t going to sugarcoat it, though, and admitted that the actual chances of Henney reuniting with Wally are “slim to none.”
Yet, Henney isn’t about to give up and has started looking for Wally against all odds.
“Joie and friends are currently headed to the swamp to search and will continue daily,” a statement posted on Wally’s Facebook page read.
Here’s hoping they can find Wally — and the crook that stole him. This is something no pet owner should have to go through, no matter how strange their pet may be.