emotional support animals

Emotional support animals, or ESAs, are no longer a rare sight in college dorms as more students turn to fluffy companions for relief from anxiety, depression and other mental health struggles.

Emotional support animals are making a difference in the lives of some students across BYU campus.

BYU students with emotional support or service animals have experienced difficulties finding housing contracts and other accommodations because of a lack of understanding for the roles their animals play.

Like most BYU students, 20-year-old English major Katherine Tew didn’t anticipate having an animal for a roommate. Tew would come home to the sound of restless barking from behind her roommate’s locked door. The roommate would keep her registered emotional support dog in her bedroom daily while she attended classes and work.