Emotional Support Alligator Banned from Walmart

A man in Pennsylvania can no longer bring his alligator, an emotional support animal named Jinseioshi, on shopping trips to Walmart. Wesley Silva, 60, says he and his friend are barred at a Walmart in West Brownsville, where they had been shopping for years.

Jinseioshi is five feet long and weighs 32 pounds. She is sometimes seen in a harness, other times a dress, and – when she’s running errands with Silva – almost always in a shopping cart.

“We have been going to that Walmart for about 3½ years, and normally the reaction is ‘That's pretty cool’ or ‘That is awesome that you have a pet alligator, man!'’” Silva tells NBC News.

Walmart was sympathetic but rules are rules. “We truly value the bond people share with their animals – including those with scales and tails,” the company said in a statement to People magazine. “They bring comfort, joy and companionship in so many ways, and we love them all. For everyone’s safety and comfort, though, only ADA-recognized service animals can shop with us at Walmart.”

Silva says he got Jinseioshi from a neighbor who could no longer care for her. He was already something of a herpetophile at the time, as he owns six snakes, a Komodo dragon, a leopard gecko, an ocellated skink, and a second alligator. He also has a dog and five human children of his own.

Silva only began to find comfort in cold-blooded scaly creatures in 2022, when his daughter asked him to get her a snake. Man and serpent bonded immediately and, as a pastor at a Baptist church, Silva underwent a borderline religious experience.

“In the Bible, God talks about us having dominion over animals, and I developed an affinity for the reptiles,” says Silva. “I find them very soothing.” Walmart shoppers, not so much.

Photo credit: WPXI via YouTube