A Pennsylvania resident, who attributes relief from his depression to an alligator named Wally, reported that the reptile went missing while the family was on vacation at the Georgia coast. According to a report in The Independent, Wally, the “emotional support alligator”, was released into a swamp.
Wally is popular for being an emotional support pet and has dedicated social media pages with thousands of followers.
In a social media post, Wally's owner Joie Henney shared over a week ago that his pet reptile was stolen. Since then, Mr Henney has been updating Wally's Facebook page about the alligator's disappearance. Sharing a picture of Wally, Mr Henney revealed that the reptile was stolen from its enclosure on April 21 in the early hours of morning.
He wrote, “Help is needed!!!! Wally has been stolen…no this is not a joke. He was taken from his pen on Sunday the 21st sometime between 4:30 am to 7:00 am while in Brunswick Georgia. Walking searches have been conducted to no avail. If anyone sees or hears anything please contact Joie directly. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.”
In another Facebook post, Mr Henney revealed that Wally was stolen by pranksters, who left the alligator outside the home of someone who called authorities. He added that this resulted in the alligator being captured and released into the wild.
He wrote, “Okay everyone I am going to lay things out to the best of my ability. Wally was stolen by some jerk who likes to drop alligators off into someone's yard to terrorise them. Once discovered they called DNR, DNR then called a trapper. The trapper came and got Wally and dropped him off in a swamp with about 20 other alligators that same day. The swamp is very large and the trapper said the chances of them finding Wally are slim to none. But this is Wally…..Joie and friends are currently headed to the swamp to search and will continue daily. We just pray with other alligators present that Wally is ok. We are not releasing the location at this time, however, if anyone wants to aid in the search please contact Joie directly for more details. Please continue to pray because we need a miracle. Thank you all for your love and support.”
Mr Henney also shared a detailed note, thanking the public for supporting him.
The Independent report claimed that as of Wednesday, efforts to find of the alligator has been unsuccessful.
