What do you all think of this. ? Its on one floor of a dorm, so I assume that anyone living there does not have allergies and roommates have agreed on this. Now if both roommates have a pet, wonder how introductions will go. (not every cat/cat dog/dog cat/dog will get along from the get go.). I do know that at my daughters school several students were fostering kittens. I am sure that they “snuck them in”. Also that upper classmen usually live off campus and bring pets.
I don’t love this. A friend’s son goes to a school in FL that allows cats in the dorms with no restrictions. I don’t know what they do for students who are allergic.
My D’s friend had a roommate with a dog who was left in the room most of the day, had accidents, and was very destructive because he was all alone. The neighbors complained too because the dog barked all day long. This was an apartment that was supposed to be pet free.
At my D’s school, the only animals allowed in the dorms were service dogs and those students had singles and the dogs were with their student 24/7.
1 Like
I think pets at school are fine — if they’re converted to mittens first.
5 Likes
Well…I have severe dog and cat allergies so this would be an absolute disaster for me. If pets were on the hall I lived, attended classes I was in etc. I could not stay healthy. To put things in context, the last time I was with cats (I just don’t do it anymore) I could not breathe properly for two weeks.
I hope ample consideration is given to those with allergies, fears of animals etc.
4 Likes
I completely agree that often these situations aren’t great for the animals. I have a friend whose daughter took an ESA cat to college with her, and he was extremely stressed out by the whole situation and has been quite neurotic ever since. My daughter also knew someone at college who had a “service” puppy they were trying to raise and train, in the dorms, and the results were a little dubious. It takes a lot of work and discipline to make a dorm-living situation healthy for an animal. I fully appreciate that it can be wonderful to have them around, but I also think that overly-permissive policies can lead to some poorly-thought-out decisions that can end up being hard on all concerned.
4 Likes
Pets are not toys. They need care - regular walks, food, attention. It’s like having a toddler. Most college age kids I know could barely get themselves to classes, do laundry feed themselves and party hardy.
D2 has a dog. She got it when she was 25. She thought it would be easy peasy, but it has turned out to be more expensive and more work than she realized. I’ve had to dog sit when she wanted to go away. What would those college students do on breaks. Airlines do not allow “service” dog like they used to.
If I were the school I would not allow any pet in the dorm without student’s parent permission (paying parent). I would hold the parent responsible if anything should happen to their pet.
I am not a pet person, but I am a pet advocate. I have seen too many young people giving their pets back to shelters when they had to go back to office.
6 Likes
Fair Housing regulations allow service animals in dorms. Schools have to figure out how to accommodate them. Since Ferris State had to set aside housing to accommodate those with support animals, I assume that they decided that it would work out in their best interests just to open that whole floor to students with animals. That makes it easier than trying to match roommates who would be okay living with animals. I know we had a number of students who wanted to bring animals, even though they weren’t actually support animals. Students can pretty easily get a letter stating that they need a support animal … why not just reserve a section of housing for students wanting to bring their pets?
Now from a practical standpoint, I don’t know what those rooms are going to look (and smell) like at the end of the year. Hopefully, the students will have well trained pets & won’t leave the rooms dirty & stinky at the end of the year.
1 Like
We have pets…they are the family pets and H and I pay for everything related to the pets. I’m sure my kids, and many others, would love to bring their pets to school. But in my kid’s case, it’s not just their pet, it’s the family pet. And I know our cats would not do well in dorms, in cars going to and from campus, etc. So, I’d probably say no to our kids having our pets at school. To be honest, I doubt they’d want the responsibility.
That’s a good idea.
Frankly, except for service animals, I don’t really think it’s necessary for students to have pets in dorms. Don’t get me wrong, I love pets, but I just see a lot of things potentially going wrong.
I also think parents and even the universities need to hammer home the fact that pets take a lot of care and responsibility and money. And you can’t just abandon a pet when you get tired of it…
2 Likes
Service dogs are allowed on airplanes (and everywhere). ESA are not as it is not the pet that is trained and certified but the person.
ESA are allowed in all ‘housing’ by federal law. The schools can make rules (certain dorms, certain floors) but they can’t ban them entirely.
But I was freaked out on tours when I saw lizards and spiders and other things in dorm rooms.
1 Like
I don’t like it either. It’s kind of a Pandora’s Box for reasons that others have mentioned. My daughter lived off campus last year with 2 roommates who had dogs. Once was agreed upon among the four roommates prior to signing the lease and was living there legally (the complex knew about it she was paying an extra pet fee). That roommate was a responsible dog owner, as she had the dog for several years before going to college, and properly cared for it. The other roommate sprung her dog on them when she came back one day from the shelter with it. It was an unauthorized pet and spent a miserable existence locked in that girl’s room for the school year.
We’ve always had dogs and love them but I would be so angry with my kids if they spontaneously came home with a dog while in college. There’s plenty of time to become a pet owner.
I’d feel the same way. Also, I get that my college kids are adults, but my paying for college does not involve a pet as well, especially a pet that they spontaneously just get.
1 Like
I recall a tarantula in the dorm back in the late 70’s. I have no idea if it was okay for the guy to have it, but he did. I didn’t hang out in his room!
It’s become much harder to convince airlines your pet is a service animal. Many Air Travelers With Disabilities Encounter Hurdles to Verify Service Dogs - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
What happens when a pet bites another animal ? or they get lost ? honestly seems like a horrible idea to introduce pets into college environment. There’s an assumption that people’s pets are all trained and ok being stuck in a room all day long.
1 Like
I had two friends from hs who had two tarantulas. THEY were petrified of them and didn’t really play with them but thought they were cool. Not really.
1 Like
University of New Mexico has 2 pet permitted dorms. One is a traditional style dorm with single and double rooms. The other is an apartment style dorm that has several bedrooms and a shared bath in each apartment.
Students must request to live in the pet permitted dorms and any student requesting to live there must agree to live with an animal. Dogs (with a restriction on dogs of certain sizes and breeds), cats (domestic breeds only), small mammals (mice, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, sugar gliders, and rats), and non-venomous reptiles/amphibians are all allowed. One pet per student except for fish and small caged animals.
There is an additional fee for having a pet and the pet owner is responsible for any room damage.
My senior year of college, one of my roommates kept a pet rat which formerly had been part of her senior psych research project-- unbeknownst to the university. She was a responsible pet owner and never allowed the rat to run loose in the room unless she was present. Fighting betta fish were fad among certain groups of male students when I was a freshman. D1 reported that one of her hall mate sophomore year had a cat who came and went via a ground floor window in the owner’s dorm room. The cat was quite friendly and everyone in the hall was OK with it being there and actively helped the owner hide it from the RA.
I’d look at this as a landlord rather than just a dorm. No pets.
You’ve got LOTS of people renting with the possibility that people with different needs get thrown together willy-nilly which is different than individuals sign up for an experience with a particular roommate. And it’s not just a house–it’s a complex in close quarters. Add to that --a transcient population who may or may not take their pet friends with them when they leave.
Nope. Just nope. If the roommate brings a gold fish and roommate doesn’t complain? Then that’s between them. Gold fish is out when either leaves. Pet rat in a cage? Any guarantee it doesn’t get out and chew the wiring? Nope. A little dog? Are you gone to class all day? Nope.
A cat and the litterbox is disgusting? Nope.
1 Like
No pets is the best policy from the university stance. That said my D had a pet rat that she kept caged in her single room. All good. I took care of it once at my home–it got out and disappeared into the room. No idea where it went. Not good. Sorta panicked. So I did what she said to do–call it by name! And out he came!
But as a rule–no pets.
1 Like
Schools don’t have the option to just say no. This article explains the law well: Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) in Student Housing.
3 Likes
My daughter brought a pet rabbit to school. Her school allows ESAs without much issue. It was one of the selling points for her. We (the parents) did not think it was a good idea but we will see how it goes - this is her first year. We have told her that if it is too much the bunny can come live back home with us.
My roommate senior year had a chinchilla in our off campus apartment. She was a great pet ; ). That said, she asked us all if it was OK first.