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For some students on campus, they will see just an animal, a dog or a cat. Students with pets on campus view them as precious animals as they provide them with comfort and emotional support.  

What is an emotional support animal and who qualifies to have one on campus? Students are not allowed to have undocumented or non-registered animals on campus. If you need to live with one, you must contact Crystal Fierro, Director of Accessibility services.  

“They do have to fill out an application, and they need to have a medical provider give documentation talking about why they need the animal. It is important to know this information just in case the student needs to have their pet on campus, and they will need to give their diagnosis,” said Fierro. Then they also get asked questions like how the animal would help them and what the animal is needed for, so we look at it from a medical standpoint to see why the animal is needed.”

It does not end here: students in need of an ESA will need to have an agreement with their roommates as well. There are three documents students will need to fill out, including the roommates’ agreements, which must be filled out by every roommate.  

“They have to sit down and talk to their roommate and say, ‘Hey, I’m bringing in my cat, Fluffy; are you okay with that?’ and they have to sign and say they’re okay with that animal being in our apartment,” Fierro said.  

There are many advantages that come with having a pet on campus. Pet owners can get more social with everyone. When they are walking around with their pet, students tend to stop by and wave and pet the animal, and that makes the pet owner happy. The pet becomes the celebrity of the building before the owner knows it.  

“Coffee is very popular and very opinionated,” says Rebecca Gilseth, co-parent of Neiomi’s dog, Coffee.

Many students on campus would agree that we have had rough days in the morning, and if we had a pet to just cuddle us, we would feel comforted, and that is a beautiful thing.  

“I think the benefits of being able to have a dog with you are, in my opinion, being able to experience a lot of joy, the dog getting you moving, getting you assigned to have something to take care of, and if you have to have the responsibility, it encourages you to try harder for yourself and the animal,” says Gilseth.

While there seem to be benefits to having a pet on campus as a student, there are also concerns. One of which is finances. Although many students are already financially secure enough to afford to own a pet, finances should not be a concern. A pet owner on campus added, “We do have to get food for her, vet visits because she has gotten sick a couple times, haircuts of course, and we do get her some outfits too.”  

GVU is a diverse private university in Iowa. We have students from all over the world, and we all have different perspectives on living with animals. Some students may be uncomfortable with animals due to the area they grew up in. In a place that is more developed, people live with animals and feel comfortable with animals around them. 

“I don’t mind cats, but I’ve been bitten by a dog before, so whenever I see someone with a dog, my first instinct is to run as far as possible because I got a big bill from the hospital. It was about $1000 because they had to check to see if I had certain diseases like rabies, so it was really expensive, but up until then, but these days, I just have PTSD from just seeing a dog,” said Hosea Tobongye, a junior at GVU.   

It would sound very hurtful if someone described your pet as dangerous. It would be nice if students like me who have had bad experiences with animals or students who do not like animals are educated on why some students need to have their pets on campus. Students who have ESAs on campus should start a movement and raise awareness.