According to a previous Post report, Athens has recently shown an uptick in stray animals. Just last year, the Athens Humane Society picked up 250 strays without a shelter.
As tempting as it can be to cave into caring for an animal companion after watching a gut-wrenching commercial, students in university, specifically undergraduates, should avoid getting a pet until they receive their diploma.
Although service and emotional support animals are an obvious exception, owning a pet in a dorm or even a college apartment is not a suitable environment for an animal. Many college towns like Athens, such as Muncie, Indiana, home to Ball State University, and Oxford, Ohio, home to Miami University, have local shelters that receive increased abandoned pets, especially around winter and summer breaks.
Students at Ball State gave reasons like “moving back home” or “getting a new job” for needing to give up a pet, which are relatively predictable scenarios where animal abandonment could've been easily avoided. In one instance, a local animal shelter in Muncie said it found an iguana on the street, an animal not native to the local climate.
The Oxford Observer reported students take in stray animals to care for until the school year ends. Once the year ends, these animals will end up back on the street to roam.
Pets don’t deserve to live in a cramped student housing environment or a fraternity house, and they especially do not deserve to be abandoned when students haven’t made ample plans to take on the responsibility of a living, breathing animal.
Billings Animal Family Hospital breaks down four areas of student life that are affected by owning a pet: space, time, roommates and financial requirements. Most pets, especially four-legged friends like cats and dogs, require lots of space to roam and time spent with them. Living with roommates can come with its challenges, but when a furry roommate joins the mix, there’s no predicting its behavior.
The most obvious limitation to owning a pet in college is financial struggles. On top of class tuition, groceries and the expenses on the weekends, paying for a pet's medical bills, supplies and food can add up.
SABEW showed some examples of numbers for owning a pet in college. A student at the University of Georgia estimated in addition to the initial $3,000 cost of owning her dog, she pays around $100 a month for the supplies needed for it.
A common argument for owning a pet in college is the stress relief and happiness a pet brings into a college home. There is no denying the joy a dog or cat can bring at the end of a long day. But an undeniable stress factor in college students’ lives is money.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals states $3,221 as the first-year cost of an animal, and the annual cost is around $1,391, according to SABEW.
Enough animal cruelty cases are going around universities due to tests on primates and birds in labs for experiments. Dragging the abuse back home to the dorm or apartment only makes things worse. Save up for after school and be sure you’re able to give an animal a life-long home before buying one.
Abby Jenkins is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Let Abby know by tweeting her @abbyjenks18 or emailing her at aj205621@ohio.edu.
