See ya later, alligator.
A Pennsylvania man’s emotional support alligator can no longer accompany her owner inside a Walmart after their recent trip to the store stunned shoppers.
Alligator owner Wesley Silva, 60, revealed his pet, Jinseioshi, was banned from a Walmart in West Brownsville, Pa. — despite Silva claiming their public outings had never been an issue in the past.
“We’ve gone to restaurants,” Silva told WPXI on Wednesday. “We’ve been to Denny’s, where she’s a star there. She gets VIP treatment.”
The 5-foot-long reptile was photographed at least two different times earlier this month by shocked customers in the store located just south of Pittsburgh.
In one photo, the 32-pound pet wore a grey dress as Silva pushed her around in a shopping cart. A separate photo showed Jinseioshi wearing a shirt with a harness.
Silva said that the leashed reptile usually gets a warm welcome in public and he was upset that Walmart banned his pet after images of their shopping trip surfaced.
“The safety of our customers and associates is our highest priority,” Walmart wrote in a statement to the outlet. “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.”
Walmart only welcomes service animals like dogs and miniature horses, as suggested by the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the retail company’s website.
“I’ll just go with the flow,” Silva reacted when asked about his pet’s ban.
Silva claimed that he hasn’t experienced much pushback from the public and businesses since Jinseioshi belly crawled into his life four years ago.
“It’s been very positive, and I was really taken aback by that,” Silva insisted.
Silva adopted the gator after his neighbor, who received the animal as a gift, wasn’t able to take care of her anymore.
“I did some research, I have kids of my own, and I didn’t want to put anyone in jeopardy, and after some research, I was like, you know what? I’ll take her,” Silva added.
He had been taking her to local restaurants and strolls around town for the past three and a half years and has no plans to stop their adventures now, despite Walmart’s ban.
Alligators can grow to be more than 12 feet long and weigh as much as 1,000 pounds, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
Pennsylvania does not have a state law against owning an alligator, according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
“So long as these animals are not released into the wild, there are no state regulations regarding their ownership,” the commission claimed. “Likewise, there is no state permit required to possess these animals.”
In 2023, a Philadelphia Phillies fan was denied entry into Citizens Bank Park when he tried to walk through the stadium’s gates with his emotional support alligator.
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