9-Year-Old Wally the Emotional Support Alligator Stolen; What Is the Purpose of ESA?

According to its owner, Wally, the emotional alligator, has been missing. The gator was reportedly stolen from its pen.

Wally, The Emotional Alligator, Is Missing

A post on Facebook announced that the 9-year-old alligator had been stolen on April 21, sometime between 4:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., while he was in Brunswick, Georgia, visiting his friends. They have been doing walking searches but to no avail, as the reptile has remained missing.

Wally is an emotional support animal for Joie Henney. He talked about the incident on TikTok and introduced himself as Wallygator's dad. He was emotional as he asked for help to bring his baby back. He offers a reward for Wally's return with no questions asked.

Wally had become an Internet celebrity after a video of him swimming in Philadelphia's LOVE Park went viral. That same year, Wally and Henney were featured on CBS Evening News' "On the Road with Steve Hartman."

According to Henney, the rescue gator has never bitten anyone. Also, Wally has helped him in his battle with depression.

Henney adopted Wally, now a 5-foot-long gator, when he was roughly a year old in 2015. He said he had a friend who rescues gators in Florida and contacted him about a group of gators in danger due to land development. Henney offered to take Wally in.

Henney likened Wally to a domesticated cat or dog.

He told the York Daily Record that Walley was like a puppy following them around the house. The duo had visited senior centers and minor league baseball games together. However, Wally was denied entry at the Citizens Bank Park because the policy only allowed service dogs and prohibited all other animals.

@wallythealligator Wally is missing. ♬ original sound - Wally

What Are Emotional Support Animals (ESAs)?

An Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is an animal that offers a person with a mental health or psychiatric handicap (like a severe mental illness) therapeutic benefits (like emotional support, comfort, or companionship). Although an ESA is not regarded as a service animal, according to US law, it is also not considered a pet. It is typically not limited by the kind of animal.

Any domesticated animal, regardless of age, including cats, dogs, mice, rabbits, birds, hedgehogs, rats, minipigs, and ferrets, may be classified as an ESA. Nonetheless, an ESA should be controllable publicly and not a nuisance.

They don't carry out specific duties; somewhat, the animal's mere presence lessens the symptoms of the person's severe mental illness. A licensed mental health professional (therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc.) must deem the owner of an emotional support animal (ESA) to have a qualifying mental health or psychiatric disability. This determination is supported by a prescription letter that is formatted correctly. The letter from your qualified mental health professional distinguishes a valid ESA from a pet.

There are no hard and fast criteria regarding who would and would not profit from an ESA. The main advantage of spending time with an animal is frequently the simple camaraderie that results from doing so. Animals may provide much-needed consolation in trying times and positively influence a lousy day.

Caring for an animal can be somewhat labor-intensive, depending on the species. Some people may find that having this kind of duty serves as helpful encouragement to follow certain habits, such as feeding their pet at the same time(s) each day or routinely exercising outside (such as walking a dog).

Check out more news and information on Alligators in Science Times.