{"id":107183,"date":"2026-02-06T18:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107183\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:16:10","slug":"pennsylvania-man-raises-eyebrows-for-schlepping-around-his-5-foot-long-emotional-support-alligator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/107183\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Man Raises Eyebrows for Schlepping Around His 5-Foot-Long Emotional Support Alligator"},"content":{"rendered":"

An emotional support alligator has been banned from a big box store in Pennsylvania. But the boycott doesn\u2019t bother Wesley Silva \u2014 he\u2019s schlepped his 5-foot-long, 32-pound pet, Jinseioshi, around restaurants, the public library and other stores for the past three and a half years, according to WPXI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been everywhere. We\u2019ve been to Denny\u2019s. She\u2019s a star there. She gets VIP treatment,\u201d says Silva, 60.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

WPXI<\/p>\n

Still, Walmart customers weren\u2019t so sure about having the leashed lizard slithering down the aisles or hanging out of a shopping cart. Several snapped photos of the toothy beast, but others feared for their safety, prompting the West Brownsville Walmart to ban Jinseioshi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe safety of our customers and associates is our highest priority,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silva insists Jinseioshi \u2014 who\u2019s registered as an emotional support animal \u2014 is as gentle as a lamb and wouldn\u2019t hurt a fly.<\/p>\n

But an expert cautions a scared or stressed alligator could wreak havoc.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Facebook\/Baldwin Borough Public Library<\/p>\n

Cienna Chefren, a representative of the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh, says<\/a>: \u201cThere is no predictability to how that animal is going to act when it\u2019s around strange people, stressful environments, which Walmart is, so there are no precautions there, and that could be quite dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Silva shrugs off those worries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just go with the flow,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Silva received Jinseioshi four years ago as a gift from a neighbor who couldn\u2019t take care of the swamp-loving critter anymore \u2014 and he loves dressing her up in sweaters and dresses and tooling around town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think I would actually own an alligator, ever,\u201d he says<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s been really kind of incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story Pennsylvania Man Raises Eyebrows for Schlepping Around His 5-Foot-Long Emotional Support Alligator<\/a> first appeared on National Enquirer<\/a>. Add National Enquirer as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An emotional support alligator has been banned from a big box store in Pennsylvania. But the boycott doesn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[51583,28,30,29,23258,51582,757],"class_list":{"0":"post-107183","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-emotional-support-animal","9":"tag-pennsylvania","10":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","11":"tag-pennsylvania-news","12":"tag-walmart","13":"tag-wesley-silva","14":"tag-wpxi"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}