YORK HAVEN, Pennsylvania (Achieve3000, November 12, 2019). If you're at the airport and spy a tail-wagging friend next to a fellow traveler, you might not give it a second thought. Chances are, neither will anyone else. That's because emotional support dogs have become frequent flyers. These helping hounds have been spotted everywhere from classrooms to courtrooms. And for the most part, they've become accepted members of our society. But not all emotional support animals (ESAs) look as supportive as a tail-wagging canine. Take Wally, for example. He's a registered ESA—and he's an alligator. Wally stretches 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. His owner, Joie Henney, 65, lives in York Haven, Pennsylvania. Henney has depression and chooses not to take medication. So, with his doctor's approval, he uses Wally to help him cope.

Sure, Wally could get pretty big someday: He might grow as long as 16 feet (nearly 5 meters). But Henney insists his sharp-clawed 4-year-old is like a big teddy bear.

"He likes to give hugs," Henney said, explaining how the reptile likes to rest its snout on him. Henney notes that being around Wally helps him manage the symptoms of depression. These can range from changes in appetite to feelings of worthlessness.

Henney was having a tough time when Wally came into his life. He'd recently lost three loved ones. He was struggling. Then Henney adopted Wally from a friend. "I had Wally, and when I…was around him, it was all OK," Henney said. So, he talked to his doctor about having an ESA. "My doctor knew about Wally and figured it works, so why not?"

Henney's doctor isn't alone. The potential benefits of animal-assisted therapies are well-documented and accepted by many psychologists.

But if you ask the experts whether emotional support animals in particular can help patients, the answer is a little more…fuzzy. A growing number of therapists question the value of ESAs as part of a long-term treatment plan for mental health issues. Some even fear that prescribing these animals may interfere with the process of healing. Molly Crossman, a psychology researcher at Yale University, notes that there are simply no clear conclusions. While her research has shown that animals don't create more distress in patients, it hasn't shown that they decrease distress just by being around.

That hasn't stopped a growing number of people from embracing ESAs (and not just the canine variety). Jet-setting support cats, pigs, and even miniature horses have made headlines. Unlike service dogs that are specially trained to assist people with disabilities, ESAs can be personal pets of any species. All it takes is a doctor's note to see an alligator take a spot on the family couch.

And for a man of Henney's background, the perfect source of comfort may just be a cold-blooded one: He happens to be the former host of Joie Henney's Outdoors, a show that aired on ESPN Outdoors from 1989 to 2000.

"He's just like a dog," Henney said, describing his alligator to a woman at a senior center. "He wants to be loved and petted."

But gators will have haters. Perhaps it's easy for Henney to see the cuteness in Wally, but others may see the toothy companion as a menace.

Henney knows that alligators are dangerous wild animals; he's aware that Wally could probably hurt him if he felt like it. But for now, at least, Wally seems content eating chicken wings.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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