Not your usual support pet: Man’s alligator gets him kicked out of Walmart
Walmart lets it be known that alligators are no longer welcome at its stores, even if they are emotional support animals, after customers raise concerns.
An alligator might not be the first animal that comes to mind when you think of an emotional support animal, but for the past four years Jinseioshi has been just that for Wesley Silva. The gator joined his menagerie of reptiles when a neighbor, who got the reptile as a gift, couldn’t take care of female reptile anymore and asked if Silva would take it.
“I didn’t think I would actually own an alligator, ever,” he told NBC affiliate WPXI. However, he did some research and accepted the unwanted creature. The now five-foot, 32-pound gator accompanies the 60-year-old pretty much everywhere he goes.
Silva says that Jinseioshi has always gotten a warm welcome. “We’ve been to Denny’s, where she’s a star there, she receives VIP treatment,” the Baptist and Brethren pastor told NBC News.
Even at the Walmart that he was asked to leave recently, which the two have been shopping at for three and a half years. He told the news outlet that people would often come up to him and say, “‘That’s pretty cool’ or ‘That is awesome that you have a pet alligator, man!’”
Alligators no longer welcome at Walmart
However, on a recent visit some of the customers in the store raised concerns when they saw an alligator wearing a dress, being pushed around the store in a shopping cart.
A company spokesperson told NBC News in a statement: “The safety of our customers and associates is our highest priority. We welcome service animals in our stores, but it is unacceptable to expose members of the public to potential danger. Accordingly, alligators are not permitted on our premises.”
He disagrees with Walmart’s decision. Still, Silva says that the response from others has “been very positive,” adding, “and I was really taken aback by that.”
He still plans to take Jinseioshi out with him wherever he goes, and she is welcome. “I’ll just go with the flow,”he added.
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