Emotional Support Alligator Sparks Discussion on Animal Ordinances in North Wales Borough

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

File photo.

The question is on everyone’s mind — or at least, now it is.

Resident Andrew Berenson brought one of Philadelphia’s hottest topics to North Wales on Tuesday night, and it’s one council may have to ponder.

"Somebody had to ask this question, so I’ll be the one: in Philadelphia, somebody had a support alligator, and tried to get into Citizens Bank Park. They wouldn’t let him in, or they chose not to, and the Wells Fargo Center did a few weeks later,” Berenson said.

"My question is, do we have any laws regulating support animals in the borough? Or governing whether somebody needs a support animal, or can restrict them?” he said.

In September, a Phillies fan identified as Joie Henney of Jonestown tried to bring Wally, his five-foot-long emotional support alligator, into the ballpark for a Phillies game and the news went viral after the duo were denied entry; the pair attended a Flyers game in late October and were let in, with the gator posing with team mascot Gritty and appearing on the arena’s video board during that game, according to reporting from CBS3, 6ABC and NHL.com.

In North Wales, borough officials last discussed their animal control code starting in April 2016, when residents asked if rules were in place to allow or prohibit the keeping of pet chickens and/or addressing stray cats. Roughly a year of public talks led to a vote in June 2017 to adopt a new animal code, allowing town residents to keep chickens and ducks on residential properties, but only those that have an area of 5,000 square feet or more, with written permission from a landlord if they’re a renter, with no more than four on properties of less than one acre, and in a shelter that must have a roof and at least three enclosed sides.

Lansdale borough discussed but voted down a similar code change in 2018, the supervisors in Montgomery Township voted in 2022 to allow chickens, and Towamencin took up the topic in 2017, continued talks in 2021, with a vote in May to draft a code and an update in July that it wasn’t yet ready for a vote.

Berenson raised the topic at the start of Tuesday night’s council meeting, asking during public comments if the town had any such reference to alligators on the books.

"Do we distinguish between service animals, like support dogs for the blind? Seeing eye dogs, or animals for mental health support? This person had an alligator, you’ve heard of various different animals,” he said.

"If we do, do we have any ordinances that actually can restrict the type of support animal that can enter into a building?” Berenson said.

Council President Sal Amato said he recalled the last round of talks on the animal code but no references to alligators specifically, and borough Manager Christine Hart said she’d also recommend reviewing the town’s special accommodations policy

"If special accommodations are needed, there is reference to service animals such as you speak of, for the blind or what have you, but we’ll certainly look into it. I think it’s a good thing to be proactive with, rather than reactive,” she said, adding that she and town solicitor Greg Gifford would look into the policies and codebook and report back to council.

North Wales borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on Nov. 28 at the borough municipal building, 300 School Street. For more information visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.

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