Brunswick, GA (AP) — A Pennsylvania man who credits an alligator named Wally for helping relieve his depression for nearly a decade says he is searching for the reptile after it went missing during a vacation to the coast of Georgia.
Joie Henney has thousands of social media users following his pages devoted to Wally, the cold-blooded companion that he calls his emotional support alligator. He has posted photos and videos online of people petting the 5 1/2-foot (1.7 meter) alligator like a dog or hugging it like a teddy bear. Wally’s popularity soared to new heights last year when the gator was denied entry to a Philadelphia Phillies game.
Now Henney said he is distraught after Wally vanished while accompanying him on an April vacation in Brunswick, Georgia, a port city 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Savannah. He said he suspects someone stole Wally from the fenced, outdoor enclosure where Wally spent the night on April 21.
In social media posts, Henney said pranksters left Wally outside the home of someone who called authorities, resulting in his alligator being trapped and released into the wild.
“We need all the help we can get to bring my baby back,” Henney said in a tearful video posted on TikTok. “Please, we need your help.”
The man from Jonestown, Pennsylvania, has previously said he obtained Wally in 2015 after the alligator was rescued in Florida at the age of 14 months. Henney told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2019 that Wally helped alleviate depression following the deaths of several close friends. He said a doctor treating his depression had endorsed Wally’s status as his emotional support animal.
“He has never tried to bite no one,” Henney told the newspaper.
No one has filed police reports about the missing alligator in Brunswick and surrounding Glynn County, according to spokespersons 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 dispatched to capture it. The agency said in a statement that the gator was “released in a remote location,” but stressed that it doesn’t know if the reptile was Wally.
It’s illegal in Georgia for people to keep alligators without a special license or permit, and the state Department of Natural Resources says it doesn’t grant permits for pet gators. Pennsylvania has no state law against owning alligators, though it is illegal for owners to release them into the wild, according to its Fish and Boat Commission.
