A man in Pennsylvania was denied entry to a sports game for attempting to bring his emotional support alligator.
According to Mediaite, Joie Henney, his gator named Wally, and a friend, were denied entry by upper-level security to a Philadelphia Phillies game on Wednesday.
“We were fine for a while,” Henney’s friend explained.
She added, “And then the top security came and that’s when we had the issues.”
However, since Wally is an emotional support animal and not a service dog, security was allowed to refuse entry for the group, the outlet reported.
In a video from the YouTube channel named The Philly Captain, Henney encouraged nearby children outside of the stadium to pet Wally and assured them he didn’t bite and loved having his chin rubbed.
“His chin rubbed? You can kiss my a**. I ain’t touching no chin,” The Philly Captain said.
According to a report from CBS News in 2022, Henney described his bond with Wally, whom he rescued in Orlando, Florida, as “very special” and credited the animal for supporting him through his depression after losing numerous loved ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH36an-6iFc
“I’d lay on the couch, and I’d wake up and he’d be laying on my head,” Henney said of the reptile’s affection. “And I knew it was for a long period of time because I had his whole jaw print on my face.”
Henney also claimed Wally was not dangerous.
He shared:
“I’ve never met an alligator that will not bite you. You fool around [with their head], their instinct is to grab you. He does not do it. You can reach in there and rub his tongue. He refuses to close his mouth. We don’t know why.”
Henny credited Wally for making him “feel loved.”
“I’ll get lonely and stuff like that and he seems to sense that stuff and he’ll come up and he’ll give me a hug,” he shared.