To see a video on what students think about pet-friendly dorms, click here.
College roommates willing to cuddle all night and risk their lives for their roomie are pretty hard to come by.Unless that roommate happens to be your pet.Several colleges across the U.S. have adopted a pet policy within the past few years.But the University isn’t considering changing its pet policy, which only allows fish.”I don’t think this is something we are presently looking into,” said Jay High, communications manager of the Department of Residential Life. “There are no plans that we have right now for expanding our pet policy in the residence halls.”Sarah Fernandez, media relations manager of Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., which established its pet-friendly policy in 2004, said allowing pets has been beneficial to students.”[Allowing pets] helps students who are homesick and want a piece of home,” she said. “Others find pets really relaxing and find that to be a stress reliever. It works for those who want to have animals as a part of their life.”Kelly Eikleberry, director of residence life at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., said the program has been successful since its initiation three years ago.”It has definitely benefited the students,” she said. “Some students can’t imagine being away from their dogs.”Permitting pets in residence halls also serves as a recruiting tool.”We hear from students, ‘The fact that I could bring my dog or cat was a factor in me deciding to come here,'” Fernandez said.Owning pets may also improve a person’s health.”There are plenty of health benefits associated with having pets, especially the type of calming effect on people,” said David Senior, associate dean of LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine. “When you pet a pet, your heart rate drops. And dorms tend to be a lonely place, and pets can provide the companionship a person needs, especially for freshmen who are homesick.”Despite the possible advantages of allowing pets in dorms, there are several issues that must be addressed.Students should fully assess whether or not they are prepared to raise a pet, according to the Humane Society of the United States’ Web site.Senior said some students aren’t dependable pet owners.”We find at the end of semester there are stray animals,” he said. “There is an extreme lack of responsibility of students on campus. Students drop off their pets at the Vet School in cardboard boxes at the end of the semester.”Andrew Sullivan, sociology freshman, said he doesn’t think students are mature enough to take care of a pet.”I don’t think it would work because we are college people,” he said. “And taking care of yourself is enough.”High said LSU permitted pets in the on-campus family and graduate school apartments in 1997. But it was quickly terminated because the students did not live up to the contract, he said.”It was very labor intensive for the people running the apartments,” he said. “And pets were left stranded.”But pets are not the only ones that may suffer.High said there are several risks in permitting pets in residence halls.”The problems are allergies and damages to the rooms,” he said. “There are noise complaints when students aren’t present and insufficient space.”But there are solutions to these problems.At Stephens College, students have the option of choosing whether to live in a typical residence hall or “pet houses.””If you don’t like [pets] or have allergies, you don’t have to live there,” she said. “The people who live there are students who either have pets or want to be around them.”Sullivan said he thinks having separate buildings for pet owners is a good idea.”We should have [pets], but certain buildings should be designated as them so you couldn’t just bring a pet into your room if you were not in a certain dorm that’s not approved as being pet-friendly,” he said.High said larger universities aren’t good candidates for housing pets. “The LSU residence halls house 200 to 400 students,” he said. “The population density just isn’t favorable to pets.”Fernandez said she agrees smaller colleges are much better suited to house pets.”Smaller campuses are much more manageable, and smaller colleges have the opportunity to do more innovative things,” she said.But larger universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have pet programs.”I would imagine being at a larger university, you might have more resources to make it work,” she said. “Size might not have much of an impact. But it is more of a right fit for the school.”Andrew Burkett, international studies freshman, said he would like if the University adopted a pet-friendly policy.”It sounds cool,” he said. “I have pets at home that I wish I could bring.”Tiffany Bannister, biology freshman, said she has mixed feelings about a pet-friendly policy.”On some level we should have it because a lot of people are close with their pets, but at the same time it would cause problems,” she said.- – – -Contact Drew Belle Zerby at [email protected]