Illicitly, Pets Find Campus Home

A male resident of Watt lives in a single with two cute girls. They keep him company when he’s pulling an all-nighter, and they’re always excited to see him when he comes back from class. They like the room warm, so he never opens the windows, and while they can be messy sometimes, he is happy to share his room with them. Their names are Coco and Oreo, and they are guinea pigs.

“I’ve always been an animal nut,” said the student, who was granted anonymity because having pets in the dorms is against University policy. Under his desk is a 40-pound box of hay that he uses to replenish the guinea pigs’ bedding every day. He buys more vegetables and fruits than your average college student. And he makes time between classes to clip Coco’s nails or brush Oreo’s teeth. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s definitely rewarding,” he said. “If you’re up at 6 a.m. studying, it’s good to have someone else up.”

Despite his efforts to provide Coco and Oreo with a comfortable home, his furry friends have not been able to adjust easily to dorm life. “If I sneeze, she’ll run around frantically,” he said, referring to Coco.

The rule against pets in dorms is clear enough. Students are not allowed to bring any animals into the dorms, with the exception of fish and service animals. Barnard also allows small turtles, as long as they are kept in an aquarium no larger than five gallons.

According to Barnard’s director of residential life and housing Ann Aversa, the dorms are not suitable for pets. They can cause damage to facilities, students may be allergic to them, and, of course, there is the smell issue. “Although ferrets are cute, they’re awfully smelly,” she said.

Columbia’s director of housing services Herman Matte said that neither dorm rooms nor students’ schedules are conducive to having a pet. With a busy social and academic life, the average Columbia student would not have time to offer an animal the best care, he said.

But some students overlook the no-pet rule and manage to sneak in a bunny, ferret, or even a cat. One Barnard student was found with two snakes in her room living in a small terrarium. She said that since the home met the size requirement, it should be allowed. Another student was “scared as could be,” according to Aversa, when the doors of an elevator opened and she was greeted by a neighbor’s escaped ferret.

Students who choose to keep a pet in their dorms tend to stick to small caged animals. “We haven’t gotten the ‘Oh gee, I lost my tarantula’ call yet,” Matte said. On one occasion, a blind student received accommodation for her guide dog. Yet when a student living in Watt requested accommodation for a guide dog he wanted to train, he was denied. “It was a noble thing to do, but the room was not a good environment for the dog, and it would not be fair to other neighbors,” Matte said.

For a female resident of Sulzberger and her two roommates, caring for a rabbit during their first year was a bonding experience. They named him George O’Malley after the character on Grey’s Anatomy, which they loved. “It got annoying after a while. There was George poop everywhere,” she said, “but the bunny served as a fill-in boyfriend for my two roommates who were in long-distant relationships, and as a full-time boyfriend for me.”

A resident of LLC living with her cat, Schroedinger, said that after a while the cat “got really depressed” because he lacked space. She gave him to her friend in California where “he’s got a big back yard” and “lots of sun.”

Many illicit pets are discovered during safety inspections or by facilities staff members when they enter a room to fix something. In some cases, a staff member walking by a room will notice an animal “hanging out at the window,” according to Aversa.

“A pet is not like a candle, you can’t just take it out,” Aversa said. Instead, housing services makes arrangements with the student to have the pet sent back home, sold, or given to a shelter by a certain date. If a student refuses to give up the animal or lies about it, he or she risks losing guaranteed housing.

According to Scott Wright, head of Columbia housing and dining, no student has put up a fight for a pet, and the disciplinary procedure has not yet been put into practice. He also doesn’t know of anyone who moved off-campus to keep a pet.

For all the animal-lovers who don’t get to live with their beloved pets, Barnard offers an alternative. At the end of finals week, Barnard staff members are encouraged to bring their pets to Pet Therapy Night so that students can de-stress by petting and playing with animals. As a special guest this year, Barnard President Judith Shapiro’s dog Nora is invited.

The resident advisor of the Watt resident didn’t make a fuss over his guinea pigs, saying that as long as they were caged, he should be fine. But every time he hears maintenance people on his floor, the student’s heart starts pounding faster as he quickly reaches for a sheet to throw over the guinea pig cage. Despite this “paranoia,” he said he is thinking about getting a boa constrictor or a python, but the idea of feeding them two live mice every week is enough to stop him. For now, he is looking forward to taking Coco and Oreo out to run around in the grass once the weather gets warm again.

Zeynep Memecan can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.