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How Wally the emotional support alligator helps this Pennsylvania man’s depression
- Wally likes to snuggle and give hugs, despite being a 1.5-metre-long alligator
- The registered emotional support animal has never bitten anyone and is afraid of cats
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A Pennsylvania man says his emotional support alligator helps him deal with his depression.
Joie Henney, 65, said his registered emotional support animal named Wally likes to snuggle and give hugs, despite being a 1.5-metre-long alligator (5 feet). The York Haven man said he received approval from his doctor to use Wally as his emotional support animal after not wanting to go on medication for depression, he told Philly.com.
“I had Wally, and when I came home and was around him, it was all OK,” he said. “My doctor knew about Wally and figured it works, so why not?”
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Wally was rescued from outside Orlando at 14 months old and is still growing; Henney said Wally could be nearly 5 metres long (16 feet) one day. Henney says Wally eats chicken wings and shares an indoor plastic pond with a smaller rescue alligator named Scrappy.
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Wally, who turns 4 this year, is a big teddy bear, in Henney’s words. The cold-blooded reptile likes to rest his snout on Henney’s, and “he likes to give hugs,” he said.
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