Wally was once a baby gator who was simply looking for a home. No one wanted the poor little fellow. After all, gators are not typically considered to be great house pets. People are naturally afraid of these animals. Few would ever think of taking one home with them. There were a lot of worries about Wally’s ability to coexist in the same environment with people.
Joie decided that he would step up to the challenge. He says that he had to do the right thing. He knew that Wally would have been killed if he had not been willing to help him out. A friend of Joie’s was responsible for the initial rescue. From there, the gator was sent to live with him in Pennsylvania. Wally may have been rescued but the true rescue was about to take place.
Like many animal rescue owners, Joie now says that Wally is more responsible for rescuing him than anything else. He was struggling with depression and did not want to become dependent on pills. After a while, Joie noticed that spending time with Wally did wonders for his moods. It turned out that he did not need medication after all. He just needed a friend.
He told his doctor about Wally as well. The physician encouraged him to keep the gator as an emotional support animal. Now, Wally is officially registered as such. This is the sort of happy ending that we can get used to. Most of us would not have expected the gator to have a happy home but he and Joie are very happy together.
Emotional support animals come in all shapes and sizes. Can you believe that this alligator loves to give big hugs? This is not the type of animal that we would imagine snuggling up with. Joie knows that the average person is not going to be able to understand this connection at first. He only brings Wally to the places where he is sure to be welcomed with open arms.
Joie credits Wally for keeping his spirits at all times. While the gator is definitely going to grow much larger, Joie says that he is always willing to provide Wally with a home. The gator is never going to have to worry about finding another place to stay. Wally is also going to have the chance to play in Joie’s pond with his other rescue gators, Luna and Scrappy.