Man Sleeps in Bed With an ‘Emotional Support’ Alligator – and He’s Not Even from Florida
A man who stunned onlookers at a water park in Philadelphia over the weekend with a leashed alligator has divulged he sleeps with the animal. The most shocking angle of this news is the reptile lover resides in Pennsylvania, and not Florida.
“Florida Man” is a collective of men who, over the years, have engaged in bizarre, depraved, malicious and sometimes violent behavior resulting in headlines that have captivated people globally.
On any given day, one can google the words “Florida man” and find uniquely Sunshine State news stories. Examples of the weirdness and debauchery can be found here, here, and here.
On Monday, I came across a Washington Post story headlined “His emotional support animal is an alligator. They sleep in the same bed.”
I assumed the subject of the story was a man from Florida, given the prevalence of gators in the state and the nature of the headline. As it turns out, the man profiled by Post reporter Cathy Free resides in Jonestown, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Henney, 69 is fond of “WallyGator,” who is described as an “emotional support” alligator — Henney actually took the legal steps to get his pet registered as such. Free reported:
Joseph Henney’s emotional support animal WallyGator goes with him almost everywhere, from the grocery store to walks in the park. They hug each other and sleep in the same bed. WallyGator is an alligator.
…
The two watch television together on the couch, and when Henney takes him to the farmers market, WallyGator gives hugs to shoppers — as long as they are okay with being that close to a 70-pound reptile with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
Henney told the Post WallyGator likes to give people kisses. The animal’s presence at a Philly water park got a lot of attention Saturday on Twitter.
A girl walked through with an alligator on a leash at a park in Philadelphia, according to the Philly Voice, and the alligator is an emotional-support animal named Wally that was adopted back in 2016 pic.twitter.com/2NMlI8qUvc
— No Jumper (@nojumper) August 27, 2022
“When he turns his nose toward you, that means he expects a kiss,” Henney said. “He’s super sweet-natured.”
Added Henney, “He’s a very special gator, but I wouldn’t recommend that anyone get one… If you don’t know what you’re doing, you will get bit.”
Naturally, there was one Florida angle to this story, it was just buried: Henney obtained WallyGator from a Florida man.
“Henney’s unusual relationship with WallyGator started in 2015, he said, when a friend called from Florida and asked if he could take in a few gators that had been found in a pond in Orlando,” Free reported.
WallyGator is seven-years-old and is perfectly legal for Henney to own in Pennsylvania.
