A Pennsylvania man has been denied entry to a Walmart store after bringing his five-foot emotional support alligator inside a shopping cart.
Wesley Silva, 60, said he had been shopping with his alligator, named Jinseioshi, at the same Walmart for “years” without issue. The five-foot-long reptile, weighing around 32 pounds, wore a harness and was pushed in a cart during visits.
According to WPXI, photos of the man with his gator went viral online, and the person who took them reported him to store management.
“I looked and I saw this alligator dressed up, standing in there, and his mouth was sticking out of the buggy. I didn’t believe it,” an anonymous woman who took the photos told the outlet. She also said that she likely wouldn’t return to that specific Walmart due to safety concerns. “I don’t want to shop with alligators.”
During a September trip to Walmart, staff stopped Silva after another customer complained. He told People that store associates refused entry for the first time since he began bringing Jinseioshi inside.
Emotional support vs. service animals
Experts told People that while service animals are legally protected, emotional support animals are not covered under the same laws. They also raised safety concerns, noting that reptiles such as alligators can react unpredictably in crowded or stressful environments like a retail store.
The Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh weighed in with a statement to WPXI: “There is no predictability to how that animal is going to act when it’s around strange people, stressful environments, which Walmart is, so there are no precautions there, and that could be quite dangerous.”
Jinseioshi isn’t the first emotional support alligator to be denied entry to an establishment, either. Back in 2023, a TikTok viral gator named Wally wasn’t allowed inside at a Phillies baseball game.
