<p><a href="UWIRE">quote</a> -- As university residence halls seek to transition into more homey environments -- with additions like full kitchens and single-stall bathrooms -- pet ownership is still forbidden for the majority of dorm residents.</p>
<p>But several universities, including MIT, have now added some pets to the "acceptable" list of dorm possessions.</p>
<p>According to a recent article published by The Boston Globe, students at MIT who reside in four of the school's 11 undergraduate dormitories can bring cats with them to school, thanks to a policy implemented several years ago in an effort to curb students from housing forbidden animals.</p>
<p>Other schools have jumped on the four-footed bandwagon: Stephen's College, a women's college in Columbia, Montana, allows for many household pets, including dogs, provided that they are vaccinated and under forty pounds.</p>
<p>And the SUNY at Canton in New York has provided a designated "pet wing," home to a variety of small caged animals and cats since 1996....
<p>Personally, I'm against pets in the dorm. Yes, they're cute, and I miss my dogs terribly, but if people were allowed to have cats, I would be in agony. I had several friend who had cats in high school, and it wasn't just that I'd have allergic reactions when I was at their houses--I couldn't ride in their cars, and I couldn't touch anything of theirs that might have cat hair on it. Even if it's a campus of cat-lovers with just one kid who is allergic to them, it would still be unfair. Allergies can be pretty miserable, and no matter how much I would love to have my dogs here, I would not take them because there might be someone allergic to them.</p>
<p>Yes, there is the possibility of including a part about pets on the dorm questionnaires, but cats shed, and those people come to class wearing clothes with cat hair on them. I'd probably have to leave class if I sat next to them.</p>
<p>It simply would not be fair. Though college is a new and strange environment, I have never felt so good physically, simply because I'm not being assaulted by allergies every time I sit with my friends.</p>
<p>That's why they don't make every single dorm in the college pet friendly. I think it's nice, otherwise some people might have to take their pet to the pound or something because they can't take care of it in college.</p>
<p>At MIT at least, only certain floors of certain dorms are cat-friendly, and since students get to pick dorms and floors within dorms, students with allergies avoid cat floors and possibly cat dorms.</p>
<p>Ew, pets in a dorm? My room is teeny and I share it with two girls. If we had a pet in here, it'd stink badly. Though, I guess if some people want a cat with them, it's an option at least.</p>
Yes, there is the possibility of including a part about pets on the dorm questionnaires, but cats shed, and those people come to class wearing clothes with cat hair on them. I'd probably have to leave class if I sat next to them.</p>
<p>It simply would not be fair. Though college is a new and strange environment, I have never felt so good physically, simply because I'm not being assaulted by allergies every time I sit with my friends.
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<p>That's actually your problem, and no one else's. If you can't function with someone who has cat dander on them in the room how are you going to function in the real world? What if a co-worker owns a cat? Yes, there should be (and are and will be) special dorms where there aren't cats and is AC for people with allergies, but it's asking far too much to not allow anyone to have a cat because you're allergic.</p>
<p>And I hate to be the one to tell you, but many people live in apartments. And many of those people have cats.</p>
<p>At Hillsdale College, many of the house-parents have pets, which become "dorm" pets. I know one dorm has a cat and I have never heard of anyone complaining about it. Another dorm had a larger dog - something on the lines of an English Setter, and the one girls' dorm had a chihuahua which they dressed up for special occasions. </p>
<p>Not all the dorms had a pet but the pets in the dorms were beloved.</p>
<p>Here at ND we're allowed to have "non-carnivorous fish" provided they're in a tank less than x gallons.....woot woot....haha I have yet to see anyone with fish</p>
<p>We're allowed fish here at UGA and that's all. Personally, I'd be over the moon with joy to be allowed to have a pet, and I do see guide-dogs-in-training all over campus--so it's not like there aren't any animals here, y'know?</p>
<p>We were allowed to have hamsters at Rice, I think. Some friends of mine had an exotic giant long-eared hamster. I'd always thought those things were called "bunnies".</p>
<p>At Mudd they were allowed to have bunnies, and one girl had an exotic short-eared long-tailed bunny that sure looked like a cat.</p>
<p>We were technically only allowed to have fish in a tiny bowl but one girl had a teeeeeeeeeny turtle and the RAs didn't really care (it took up the same amount of space and required the same amount of care, etc). One guy snuck a ferret in his closet for about a week before he was found out, and some girls across the hall from us took care of a friend's puppy for a few days once and weren't found out (he had a loud yippy bark but there wasn't an RA on our floor and I guess no one wanted to turn them in because it was the cutest thing EVER and it was only there for a few days anyway).
We had a fish for about two months but it died. :(</p>
<p>Of course, there has to be special housing for those who want pets. People who have allergies or don't want pets around have the right to not be around them.</p>
<p>And, the pets need to be well taken care of. Not just fed and taken out to pee, but played with and taken for walks every day. I would say that students with pets need to submit themselves to being monitored in the care of their animals.</p>
<p>But I love dogs so much. They really light up my life. I've had this idea in my head for a while now of my perfect college residential living situation. I call it "the dog house." People who want dogs in their life sign up for this building, and those who have dogs they want to bring have to let them meet the other students and dogs and pass as being an acceptable housemate. And/or the students could go pick the dogs out at a local animal shelter. Then, there would be a strict plan for who would feed them when, take them out when, etc. There would need to be serious penalties for not taking care of the dogs. But then the students could play with the dogs, let them in their rooms, take them outside, just have dogs in their lives!</p>
<p>Oh, and about summers: it would need to be worked out very early in the year who would be able to take care of the dogs over the summer, and whether they would come back the next year. Each dog would need to have a designated "owner" for that sort of thing, be it a student or faculty member. Wouldn't want a dog to have to go back to the shelter. Hopefully everybody involved would be responsible about it. If they aren't, well... I don't know what to say. A back-up "owner"?</p>