Some BYU students are using animals to help them adjust to college life.
“Dogs have always been a part of my family,” said Sina Nofoagatoto’a, a 24 year-old senior from Henderson, Nevada, majoring in international politics. Sina recently purchased a six-week old poodle puppy after all her roommates agreed on having a dog in the house.
“We wanted to come home and have someone excited to see us,” said Sina. Though Sina said she enjoyed the companionship of her new dog she admitted that owning a pet is a very big responsibility.
“It’s almost like having a baby, I was up with her twice last night to bring her outside. I’m lucky that my roommates love the dog too, because we all take turns with her.”
But for some students the responsibility of a dog turns out to be too much. “We have a big problem with students who decide they want a pet, but end up bringing the animals back to us because they move out, or can’t keep them anymore,” said Jacqueline Barlow, a Utah County Animal Shelter employee.
Barlow said when people drop animals off, the shelter can only keep the animals for a day or so because of the lack of kennel space.
“Just this morning alone we put to sleep 12 cats and euthanized about 12 dogs, and we’ll probably have to euthanize more dogs this afternoon.” Older or ill animals are usually the first to go because of their inability to be quickly adopted. Barlow discouraged students from adopting animals because they often do not have the necessary resources to take care of a pet properly, resulting in a misplaced animal with a sad fate.
Dogs and cats are not the only pets living in BYU off-campus housing. Snakes, fish, birds and rodents can all be found in student homes.
Sommer McCombs, 21, from Tsaile, Arizona, studying home economics education shares her apartment with Tessa, a white and tan teddy-bear hamster.
“Our landlords gave us permission to keep her, and my roommates all agreed so it wasn’t ever a problem,” said McCombs. “She’s easy to take care of, and it’s fun having her in our apartment, although she has escaped a few times.”
According to the BYU Housing office pets are permitted in BYU approved off-campus housing as long as the tenants and landlord all agree. The 2001-2002 Student-Landlord Rental Agreement contract states that, “No animal or pet shall be kept on the premises without the prior written consent of the landlord and all students in the rental unit.”
However for those students wanting the companionship of a pet, finding a landlord who approves of having a pet may be hard to find. Many student apartment complexes do not allow pets.
According to the Humane Society of the United States an estimated 4 to 6 million unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized in America’s animal shelters each year. The Humane Society encourages only responsible and dedicated people to adopt pets.
