Oklahoma chiropractor attacked by giraffe during exam goes viral on TikTok

“His jaw didn’t move to the left,” Whitley says in the video as he works on Gerry.

What happened next could be why three short videos Whitley posted to TikTok of the exam have collectively been viewed more than 48 million times: Gerry leaned over and sniffed Whitley, seemingly thanking him.

“So let me get this straight… giraffes are just gigantic dogs???” one person commented.

“A hug from a giraffe would heal me,” another wrote on a video of the March 21 exam.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Whitley explained, “Gerry’s jaw had a great range of motion in one direction, but did not have the same range of motion in the other side.”

He said he also found minor problems in Gerry’s upper and lower neck, which he addressed.

“Working on a giraffe’s neck is a chiropractor’s dream,” Whitley said. “It’s the longest neck in the world.”

Gerry’s owner, Missy Nowell, a longhorn rancher, said the adjustments appear to have worked because he is chewing normally again.

“I would describe it as an immediate positive response,” she said.

Two other videos from Whitley’s March 21 visit have been viewed more than 25 million times.

Nowell joked that Gerry is basically a 2,500-pound dog. School groups often take field trips to see him.

“Gerry loves everyone; he’s a very big-bodied dog,” she said.

“The only time he has a problem is if you don’t pay attention to him,” Nowell said.

Whitley said he appreciated Gerry’s response to the adjustments.

“When I was making the adjustments, he was rubbing his head on me like, ‘You’re my best friend,’” he said.

People on TikTok were charmed by the unusual sight, with many asking how they could get a job working on a giraffe.

“Giraffe chiropractor was not an option on career day,” one person commented.

“Okay… well, now I need to know how to get this job. I never knew how much I wanted to be thanked by a giraffe,” someone else wrote.

For Whitley, 34, helping long-necked creatures seemed a natural progression after working with horses, dogs, cats, skunks, chickens, snakes and bats. In seven years as a chiropractor for humans and animals, he says he has treated three other giraffes.

Nowell met Whitley at a giraffe conservation meeting last year and contacted him when she noticed Gerry had stopped chewing.

She bought Gerry from a wildlife safari park in Texas five years ago when Gerry was still there two months old after his mother rejected him, she said. Giraffes in the wild usually stay with their young for more than a year.

Nowell had a shed and fence built for Gerry and she fed him a bottle for the first two years. “He’s spoiled rotten now,” she said.

In Oklahoma it is legal to own a giraffe, but in some other states it is illegal to keep them.

In Africa, where their populations are threatened by drought and human conflict, an estimated 117,000 giraffes remain in the wild.

Nowell also has a zebra and three camels, including one called Chloe who is good friends with Gerry. She bought the animals, she says, because she enjoys caring for them and learning about them.

She said she has taken classes and attended seminars from zoos and giraffe conservation groups to educate herself about the world’s largest creatures.

Whitley, who graduated from Parker University in Dallas with a doctorate in chiropractic in 2016, now has a clinic that treats people on one side and animals on the other.

“It doesn’t happen often, but I had the desire to help both of them,” he said. “A human can say, ‘I have this problem – this is what hurts,’ but an animal can’t do that.”

He said he set up his practice in Oklahoma because the state’s laws are not as restrictive when it comes to chiropractors treating animals.

Licensed chiropractic physicians in the state can treat animals with a referral from a veterinarian, while those certified by the Oklahoma Board of Chiropractic Examiners like Whitley do not require referrals to work with animals.

Chiropractic therapy has long been controversial, with the American Medical Association establishing a Committee on Quackery in the 1960s in an attempt to eliminate chiropractic services.

A lawsuit against the AMA resulted in a victory for chiropractors in 1990, but the debate continues, with some doctors claiming that chiropractic therapy is unsafe and not based on solid science. According to a recent survey, approximately 35 million Americans visit a chiropractor every year.

Whitley said that when confronted by skeptics, he likes to talk about his work.

“When someone brings in their dog, they often tell me this is their last hope,” he said.

He tells them that adjustments to a pet’s spine, joints and other vertebrae can relieve pain and allow the animal to move more.

Although he has treated football players and ballet dancers in Oklahoma, it is his animal care – including an appointment to examine a chicken – that attracts the most attention.

Whitley first worked on a giraffe in 2022 when an animal rights advocate invited him to South Africa for three weeks to share his experiences with veterinary students.

“They were moving some wild animals to other wildlife areas, and while they were anesthetized I had the opportunity to check on them,” said Whitley, adding that he had performed joint adjustments on a Cape buffalo with a hip problem, as well as on the neck of a giraffe.

At home, Whitley has been called several times to help animals at the Oklahoma City Zoo, including a bear, a chimpanzee and an African lioness named Tia.

“Tia was a geriatric animal and had a debilitating spinal condition that caused loss of mobility in her hind legs,” said Jennifer D’Agostino, head of the zoo’s animal program.

“Dr. Whitley performed an adjustment on Tia and we were thrilled that the treatment provided her with some temporary relief,” D’Agostino said, adding that the lion was ultimately euthanized due to the progression of her disease.

With large animals that aren’t anesthetized, like Gerry, Whitley says he waits until they feel comfortable with him before he touches them.

“Giraffes are obviously very large animals, and they can be dangerous even though they look docile,” he said, explaining that they are strong and can cause damage with their hooves or ear bones.

Whitley said he learned from Gerry and other giraffes that their tongues are long and slimy and that their hair is extremely bristly. He said he’s still in awe that he got the chance to work on it.

“It was a privilege,” he said.