Emotional support animal registrations in the United States reached 115,832 last year, by . But in the eyes of reptile rescuer Joie Henney, thereâs only one:
âWally Gatorâ â his âgentleâ certified emotional support alligator.
And now, Wally has gone missing â far from home.
While Henney, of northeast Pennsylvania, was visiting Brunswick, Georgia, on April 21, Wally disappeared from his outdoor pen, according to the Wallygator Facebook page.
A Georgia Department of Natural Resources âpermitted trapper responded to a nuisance alligator call in Brunswick on 4/21,â the agency confirmed to CNN in a statement. The creature was secured and âlater released in a remote location,â the departmentâs Wildlife Resources Division spokesperson Melissa Cummings said.
âThe agent trapperâs handling of a nuisance alligator was appropriate and routine,â she told CNN. The department âroutinelyâ gets calls about ânuisance alligators,â she said, and refers callers to a permitted alligator agent trapper, per its protocols.
Whether the animal released after the April 21 call was Wally, however, remains an open question: The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has no information to confirm it â nor any further information about Wallyâs whereabouts, Cummings said.
Still, the search is on.
A campaign Henney organized to cover travel, advising and possible legal and veterinary costs to âBring WallyGator Home!!â is nearly a third of way to its US$30,000 goal; Henney did not immediately respond to CNNâs request for comment on Wallyâs disappearance.
Wally, for his part, is no stranger to public attention, usually interacting with fans at events in his home state, as well as being the subject of popular and accounts organized by Henney. Wally is often shown letting others pet and hold him, with Henney telling CNN in 2022, âHe doesnât show anger. He doesnât show aggression. He hasnât since the day he was caught. We never could understand why.â
Henney has had Wally since the reptile was a little over a year old and just 20 inches long. He got the critter from Florida, where there is an âoverabundance of alligatorsâ and they are considered nuisances and often euthanized or put in captivity, he told CNN.
Even so, Henney often has gotten criticism over Wally, he said, because people âdonât know the story behind everything.â In fact, Wally has provided companionship and support through Henneyâs radiation treatments for cancer.
âHeâs just loveable,â Henney said. âHe sleeps with me, steals my pillows, steals my blankets. Heâs just awesome.â
Pennsylvania has no law barring : The state Fish and Boat Commission does ânot regulate possession of non-native species of reptiles and amphibians,â its website states.
Georgia law, however, lets âonly licensed or permitted individuals ⌠retain alligators in captivity,â Cummings said. âMost native species of wildlife cannot be held without permits or licenses. These licenses are not issued for the purpose of having native wildlife as pets.â
And the Peach State isnât the only place Wally hasnât exactly been welcome. His fame reignited last year when the alligator was denied entry to a Philadelphia Phillies game. According to Citizens Bank Park, any animals â excluding service dogs â .
âWally has been into other baseball games, so we assumed that it was OK,â Henney said. âWe never asked or checked with it, but they only allow service animals, such as dogs and horses, into the stadium, not (emotional support) animals.â
Similarly, the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2020 announced airlines âare not required to recognize emotional support animals as service animals.â The latter is âa dog ⌠trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability,â while emotional support animals are prescribed by mental health professionals to provide their owners with comfort and support but donât have to be trained in specific tasks.
Henney at the time of the Phillies rejection made clear: âThere was no disagreement, there was no arguing, there was no conflict at all. It was all good.â
CNNâs Ben Morse, Zoe Sottile and Sara Smart contributed to this report.