Oh, but beavers are fine?
A man has been banned from the gas station Buc-ee’s after doing some shopping at a Tennessee store with his…well, unique service animal: A duck named Wrinkle.
Justin Wood, who documents his adventures with his service duck on YouTube, posted a video of the duo hitting up the world’s largest Buc-ee’s in Tennessee.
And if you’re not familiar with Buc-ee’s, calling it a “gas station” is a little misleading. The place has hundreds of gas pumps, but the store itself is the size of a Walmart and has pretty much everything you could ever think of. There’s your normal gas station items like snacks and drinks, but there’s also a massive wall of beef jerky, a bakery, a BBQ station where they serve smoked meats like brisket and sausage, and even a home decor section that looks like something you’d see in a Cracker Barrel – only much bigger.
Pretty much everything in the store features the face of the Buc-ee’s mascot, Buc-ee the Beaver, from snacks to shirts to coolers to dog toys. And sometimes there’s even a giant Buc-ee walking around taking pictures with customers.
But apparently beavers are the only aquatic animal allowed in Buc-ee’s.
Wood entered the store with Wrinkle in a stroller, much to the amusement of his fellow shoppers, and even Buc-ee’s employees, who were stopping to take pictures with the unique “service animal.”
But one manager came up to Wood to tell him that the only animals allowed in the store were service dogs. Wood explained that Wrinkle was a service animal, and even presented documentation that Wrinkle was in fact a service duck. And that seemed to be the end of it.
But after doing some shopping, Wood was approached once again and told that Wrinkle wasn’t allowed in the store without being contained so that she doesn’t fly away. So he put her on an imaginary leash and led her around the store, which didn’t really seem to amuse the Buc-ee’s employee, who then said she would call the cops.
And after checking out and leaving the store, with Wrinkle waddling close behind, Wood and Wrinkle were greeted outside by police, who informed him that Buc-ee’s was requesting that he be banned – not only from this store, but from every Buc-ee’s location nationwide.
Bummer.
Wood pointed out that Wrinkle “did nothing but make everybody happy in there,” but unfortunately Buc-ee’s wasn’t amused – so now they’re going to have to do their shopping elsewhere.
Not cool, Buc-ee’s.
