Joseph Henney and his emotional support alligator Wally. Photo: Supplied / Facebook
He may be cold-blooded, but a special alligator named WallyGator warms the hearts of everyone he meets.
His owner, 69-year-old Joseph Henney lives in Pennsylvania and has been handling and training alligators for over thirty years - but he says Wally is one of a kind.
Wally is officially an emotional support animal - a title he earned after helping Henney get through some tough times six years years ago.
"I was going through a loss of three family members and four life-long friends in two weeks and I really went deep in depression," Henney told The Panel.
"My doctor wanted to give me anti-depressant medicine and I don't take it so I was just hanging out with Wally.
"He actually helped me come through my depression really fast, actually within about two months I was pretty much coming out of it."
When Henney told his doctor, she suggested he register Wally as an emotional support animal.
"I've been handling gators for over 30 years and I know gators very well and I thought she done lost her marbles and I told her that," he says. "She actually wrote out a letter and made him my certified emotional support alligator."
Wally was the first alligator to qualify as an emotional support animal, as far as Henney knew - and he was also quite different to your average gator.
"I do train alligators, but the thing about it is to not train an alligator not to bite, you cannot do that.
"But for some reason, Wally just refuses to bite from the day they caught him and we just don't understand what's going on."
While he had all 80 of his teeth - "he got some big ones too" - Wally preferred a diet of chicken legs, dead rats and cheesy popcorn.
"Now the other alligators, they'll eat any kind of meat, they are not choosy at all, but Wally's just spoilt."
As Wally was not a service animal, he could not go everywhere like a guide dog could, but Henney said the pair got invited to restaurants and pet-friendly places frequently.
But what kind of emotional support can a reptile actually provide? Quite a lot, according to Henney - he was cuddlier than he looks and had even been compared to a weighted blanket.
"He does a lot of cuddling, he gives hugs, he gives kisses," he says. "He actually sleeps with me a lot."
And he had lots of support to give, to anyone who might need it.
"But with other people, a lot of special needs people and children, he will actually go to them and expect them to hug him and stuff," Henney said.
"He helps a lot of people, thousands and thousands of people ... he really puts smiles on their faces and makes their day."
