<p>Very bad idea. You could get kicked out of university housing. Plus it is incredibly inconsiderate to others. For example I am super allergic and if a bunny was secretly living next door I would get incredibly sick very quickly.</p>
<p>even if the dorm occupant lacks the integrity to follow the no pets rules, there is another issue.
Some have mentioned allergies, but I see another issue. I see a big possibility of the bunny turned loose, either accidentally or on purpose, or even hurt, or tortured or killed.
Please think of the bunny.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be funny if you snuck your pet bunny in and your roommate snuck in her pet python?</p>
<p>(Because rules, what rules, right?)</p>
<p>It happens. A lot, but usually with smaller critters ( hamsters, gerbils). And no, students do not always get caught. However, all roommates have to be on board with the animal if he’s going to remain secret.</p>
<p>As the the neighbor with allergies? It’s battle of the disabilities. Whose disability wins when one kid has a service or comfort animal as an accommodation and another wants no pets of any kind due to allergies? I sense some interesting cases in the legal pipeline.</p>
<p>If a student has a service animal, they are usually assigned to a single room. And they wouldn’t be asking about sneaking the critter in.</p>
<p>If you want to be around pets you can always volunteer at the local shelter.</p>
<p>If a student is bringing a comfort animal, Housing Services is going to try and be sure there are no allergic students on that floor, in that dorm, etc. This is a good reason for those students with severe allergies to get their medical records in to Health Services ASAP, and to make Housing Services aware as well. Both students can be accommodated, if they let the proper departments know what is up. There is no reason for conflict or legal remedies. </p>
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<p>Non-Americans are not the only ones who eat rabbit.Anyone international student who is living in a dorm would know the difference between a pet and food.</p>
<p>Not nice. Not funny. </p>
<p>How about a houseplant? My son had “Mr. Cactus” in his dorm room.</p>
<p>(Above post reminds me of this–back in the day, when I was in Peace Corps, one of the American teachers had a pet cat. Her students ate it. Then they sat is the back of the classroom, meowing, and saying, “Where’s my kitty?” The teacher quit.)</p>
<p>Think about the liability. If there is anyone has severe allergy nearby, you may got sued and the school would not be hold accountable. You know how this thing work in this country.</p>
<p>It is amazing how times and standards have changed. I can’t believe we are talking about lawsuits over a bunny. </p>
<p>A kid in my dorm kept a rattle snake in an aquarium in his room. It was against rules, and I thought it was stupid then, but as far as I know, no one reported it. </p>
<p>Based on this discussion, I am guessing that would never get by today. </p>
<p>Interesting. I can’t believe a supposedly adult student “needing” a “comfort animal” could be a disability that needs to be accommodated and people are seriously discussing whether that “need” is more important than the medical needs of the kids in the dorm who are allergic to the animal. Sorry, but if you can’t live without Fluffy, I think you aren’t ready for sleep-away camp.</p>
<p>As far as medical forms go, I could easily see that a kid going to a college might neglect to put rabbit allergy on their form. Why would they imagine they’d encounter rabbits in a dorm when pets are against the rules? Also, many people have more mild allergies that would lead to discomfort if they had to live with the rabbit, but are otherwise unremarkable. In fact, my daughter is allergic to rabbits. I often neglect to list that on medical forms because she has many more serious allergies. There isn’t usually enough space to list everything, and anyhow it wouldn’t be an issue for casual contact, just for living in close quarters.</p>
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<p>Actually, the need for “comfort animals” for therapeutic reasons after confirmation from a doctor or psychologist of the need and the existence of a disability is considered valid enough that even Federal laws have acknowledged this to the point of having tenant laws which overrides leases which ban pets in apartment buildings. </p>
<p>Basically, if a tenant has a doctor/psychologist’s note validating the need for a “comfort animal” for therapy reasons, the landlord has to allow the animal even if the lease states “no pets”. </p>
<p><a href=“Emotional Support Animals and Waiver of "No Pets" Rules by Landlords | Animal Legal & Historical Center”>https://www.animallaw.info/intro/emotional-support-animals-and-waiver-no-pets-rules-landlords</a></p>
<p>I worked in residential life as a hall director, and one year in my building, a student in a single tried to sneak and hide a small dog (I think it was a Pomeranian?) in her room. The singles at that university were very small, of course, and living in a 121 sq. ft. room is no good situation for even a tiny toy dog. So the dog barked all day and of course the res life staff heard it, and the dog got kicked out.</p>
<p>Also…therapy animals/comfort animals are not service animals, and therefore the ADA doesn’t apply to them. The Fair Housing Act (FHA) requires housing providers to permit comfort and emotional support animals in *housing<a href=“not%20business%20establishments”>/i</a>, too, but I’m not sure whether college residence halls are bound under that law. I do remember a student in one of my buildings was allowed to have a cat. I’m not sure why - it’s private information and we’re not informed of the reason, just that they were allowed to have one. Cats are not legally designated service animals (only dogs - and in a few uncommon cases, miniature horses), so perhaps it was a comfort animal. This particular building was upperclass and semi-apartment-style, though, and the roommates were most likely not random. I also remember another case in which a co-worker who got summer housing as part of his compensation was allowed to bring a small dog who was a registered emotional support dog, but NOT a service dog. So perhaps residence halls are covered under the FHA.</p>
<p>Anyway, not sure that a bunny would be a good comfort animal 
If the FHA does actually apply to residence halls, then yes, the psychiatric disability that precipitates it would supersede the allergies of people on the hall - although residential life would probably try to place that student in a single on a hall on which no one had a deadly rabbit allergy. That said, it’s not a good idea to sneak the bunny into the hall for reasons stated above, nor is it a good idea to try to game the system this way if the animal really isn’t an emotional support animal.</p>
<p>Also, not sure for the reasons around the quotes here: *I can’t believe a supposedly adult student “needing” a “comfort animal” could be a disability that needs to be accommodated * - but this is a very real thing. Animal-assisted therapy is scientifically supported to work, comfort/emotional support animals really do help stabilize people’s moods and combat psychiatric disorders, and nothing about that puts the person’s “adult” status in question. Many people successfully live alone with emotional support animals.</p>
<p>sorry, cobrat, not my interpretation of the law at all. the law requires specific training for an animal to rise to the level of service animal. A service animal is permitted, of course, but an ordinary housepet that gives comfort but has no training does not rise to the level of service animal. My interpretation of the law based on reading the law, rather than a summary as you posted.
A service animal is usually a dog, but is not specifically restricted to the canine family.
“According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990), a dog is considered a “service dog” if it has been “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the<br>
benefit of a person with a disability.” Also according to the ADA, a disability is a “mental or physical condition which substantially limits a major life activity”</p>
<p>A service animal is not considered a pet. There is a specific legal and practical distinction. There is a non-profit international organization based in Michigan, the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners that is in the business of matching service dogs with the disabled. They carefully point out two distinct differences between a service animal and a pet. First and foremost, the animal owner must have a legally recognized disability. Checking the definitions, one can see our two most common explanations from tenants- that a pet helps keep them calm, or that a pet helps with their depression- likely will not qualify. Can they work, walk, see, hear, shop, without specific help from the animal? Unless their nerves substantially limit their everyday life activities, then their condition does not rise to the level of a recognized disability.</p>
<p>The second distinction is the one that rejects most other requests: a service animal must be individually trained to perform specific tasks or work directly related to the disability of the individual.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, a service animal is not considered a pet, but a comfort animal, therapy animal or AAT as they are often called, is.</p>
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<p>Comfort animals are included in the federal law so long as the tenant has a documented disability according to a NYC area attorney here:</p>
<p><a href=“Q&A: Dogs as Companion Animals? - CooperatorNews New York, The Co-op & Condo Monthly”>Q&A: Dogs as Companion Animals? - CooperatorNews New York, The Co-op & Condo Monthly;
<p>The law isn’t limited to service animals. </p>
<p>Also, in apartment buildings with 3 or more units, if a tenant manages to openly live with a pet for 3 months or more without any action taken by the landlord/agents to enforce the no-pet clause in the lease, that lease is effectively waived and unenforceable under NYC tenant right laws. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www2.nycbar.org/Publications/pdf/CompanionAnimals_NYC%20Apartments09.pdf”>New York City Bar |;
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Pets are actually quite welcome at some colleges! Certain colleges allow rodents, cats, and small dogs in specific apartments or dorms – off the top of my head, I know of MIT, Caltech, and Eckerd. There’s also Reed, which has dogs everywhere on campus. I’m sure there’s many more, so check the policies of the schools you’re interested in. Alternately, wait until you have an apartment in your sophomore or junior year and bring Fluffy to college then. </p>
<p>For the majority of students in no-pets dorms, Faculty-in-Residence often have family pets that are student friendly. </p>
<p>The suggestion of volunteering at an animal shelter was a good one. Many are desperate for people to walk the dogs or play with the cats. </p>
<p>You can also get a job taking care of lab animals on campus – my work-study job one year was taking care of sugar gliders for a neuroscience lab. Land-grant universities in particular have all sorts of animals around, and a few colleges even have working farms (e.g. Warren Wilson). </p>
<p>In the, “oh how times have changed” mode, my suite mate brought a kitty to live with us my junior year. I’m sure it wasn’t allowed but we were never caught. I have fond memories of that year and that cat. </p>
<p>My daughter bought a betta fish her freshman year when they were selling them on campus. Then she had to fly home for the three week break at Christmas. Somehow, the betta survived those three weeks. When it came time to come home for the summer, the fish travelled home in a coffee travel mug since I went to pick her up. Guess who has a fish now? Yes, me. She decided it was too much hassle to deal with when she went back for her sophomore year. His forever home is with me. Not her best thought out purchase. College students are busy and really don’t need the added responsibility of caring for a pet.</p>
<p>I am directly under the campus disabilities officer. Yes, we would have to allow a comfort animal for a student with a psychiatric disability were documentation to support that need (keep in mind that institutions do not need to provide all suggested accommodations, just those that are reasonable). Where you get in to dueling disabilities is that on a small campus, like ours, there are not many living situations to choose from. Most students live in one of two connected buildings that share a heating system–no way to guarantee any room would be dander free. There are no apartments or alternative housing options. The whole world isn’t giant campuses with a complete menu of services available.</p>