GREELEY — If not for the litter box, tin cans of moist cat food and a long-handled feather toy in this University of Northern Colorado dorm room, you might never have known this was
Eventually, at the persistent coaxing of owner Morgan Monroe, Bootsie, a black feline with white paws emerged from his hiding spot, crawled into Monroe’s arms and pawed at her chest.
“He’s the king of the castle,” said the 22-year-old with a laugh.
Upstairs, two Yorkies barked in response to a knock on the door. In a nearby room, a Holland Lop bunny named Pickles waited in a crate for his owner to return from class.
Pet beds, litter boxes and leashes are the furnishings of a program UNC is piloting at
“We have forever been a ‘fishbowl’ community,” said Brad Shade, director of housing at the university, referring to its past policy on pets in residence halls. “But we continued to have people say they wish they could bring their dog or cat. It’s a comfort, and that has value. We said, ‘All right, we’re listening.’ “
Much of the campus’ housing remains fish-only. But newly pet-friendly this year are the second andthird floors at Lawrenson, a 17-story high-rise in the middle of the Greeley campus.
Students who applied to live on the suite-style pet-permitted floors had to jump through a few hoops, including liability insurance that runs about $15 a month; proof of updated vaccinations; and a commitment to never let their animals out of their room without a leash — rabbits included.
The pilot is expected to be evaluated in a couple of months, administrators say, in time to make a decision for next semester.
Lawrenson Hall resident assistant Hannah Labelson said there have been — not smells from litter boxes, not barking.
“The students knew they were going to be under a very watchful eye,” she said.
That’s the case for Daniel Aquino, a 19-year-old freshman from California who brought a frisky 8-month-old kitten named Sunny. There are times, including when he is trying to study and Sunny is leaping from desk to desk and knocking things over, that pet ownership might interfere with a student’s main reason for college.
“But it’s a stress reliever when they’re snuggled up on your chest,” said Aquino, watching the
“It’s more work than fun,” Aquino said. “There are a lot of things that come along with owning a pet, and you have to decide if you think you can handle that and a learning environment.”
Some students decided that a pet and a college dorm room just wasn’t a good mix. That was the case for Taisha Woodyard, a junior who lives on the third floor without a pet.
“I would love to bring my dog,” she said, of her 4-year-old miniature husky. Her roommate, who works at an animal shelter, also planned to bring a dog. But after input from their parents, the girls changed their minds.
Most commonly, university administrators have already made the decision for students. Campus-wide no-pet policies are the norm. Only a handful of colleges and universities around the U.S. allow four-legged creatures in on-campus housing. According to a 2011 Kaplan Test Prep survey of 500 college admission officers, But only 10 percent allow dogs; 8 percent allow cats.
Those numbers could be shifting. Some institutions, aware that the cost of on-campus housing is rising along with tuition, see pet-permitted housing as an intangible lure for dorms.
“I truly believe there are students who are saying, ‘I really didn’t want to live on campus a second year, but now that I can have a pet, I will,’ ” said Shade.
That’s the case at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., an institution that has allowed pets on campus since the 1970s. It nearly doubled its number of pet-friendly dorms, up to nine this year from five.
“We had demand for it,” said Tonya Womack, staff adviser for the pet program. “I feel like it’s one of the reasons students choose to come here.”
UNC senior Amelia Pompeye had a few suggestions for college administrators: Such programs should have educational purposes; and the standards to be participate should always be high. “There should be a mandatory evaluation of each pet before it is brought on campus,” she said.
Cats, for example, could be scratching and urinating all over a dorm room, she said — which means a new cat moving into that room might be prompted to mark those spots as well. Lawrenson Hall has two outdoor dog runs, but aggressive or misbehaved dogs could still meet on stairs or elevators.
Pompeye lives in Lawrenson, with the dorm’s only rabbit, and hopes to attend graduate school for animal behavior. She has worked at animal shelters and witnessed irresponsible pet ownership.
“There should be an education program for being a better pet owner, and we’d have fewer animals in pet shelters,” she said.
It’s already on the way, said hall director Corey Friend, who lives in Lawrenson with a 1-year-old dog named Kirby. He’s a mix of King Charles Cavalier spaniel and Bichon Frise, known as a .
The university has partnered with a veterinary hospital to make sure students’ pets stay updated on vaccinations. It will host a flu clinic next month that will feature an animal health and wellness component and is working with local trainers to offer obedience training.
A UNC doctoral student has made the program part of her research, focusing on the effect of companion animals on student learning and development.
Friend said he’s seen a change in students with pets.
“I’ve had fewer issues with behavior and conduct with students on those floors,” he said. “For some students who have lived there before, having a pet now has radically improved their quality of life.”
Monroe found Bootsie as a sick kitten in the rain 17 years ago. She nursed him back to health. But when she left for college, he moped.
In her dorm room, he made his way across a carpet that sparkled with silver glitter from a recent sorority craft project. He wore a matching silver collar around his neck.
“Good animals are naturally good companions, and they teach responsibility,” Monroe said.
That’s what Shade, the housing director, is hoping comes out of this semester.
“We were intentional and thoughtful about the way we rolled this out,” he said. “It’s gone really well.”
