Emotional Support Animals: A Trend on Our College Campus

Doug, an ESA on campus

Bella, the campus police K-9

Diesel, a service dog in training on campus

Walking around campus with a dog is just asking for a crowd to form. Some Worcester residents bring their dogs to campus just to cheer up students. There’s a very affectionate Pitbull that would always be outside of my dorm last year with his owner. There are also several fraternities with house dogs, one is even currently training a service dog. There are countless studies that show the benefits of a dogs affection for your mental health so it’s no surprise that there is an increasing trend in students wanting to own a dog while in college. This can be proven difficult as most landlords or dorms don’t allow pets, so some students are finding a way the bend the rules. Emotional support dogs.

Emotional support dogs are not a new idea. These pets have been used for decades as personal animals that are trained to provide affection. These animals don’t have to be just dogs but can be any ‘usual’ type of animal such as cats. Similar to ESAs are service and therapy animals. These, however, are more specifically and professionally trained to help or comfort people who have a disability. The inflow of ESAs to college campuses seems to be a current trend. There is currently a rise in the normalization of mental health. Prior to todays day and age, there was a stigma around mental health that caused those suffering to keep quiet and not seek proper treatment. Now, there is a rise in acceptance and the normalcy of getting help.

Historically, service dogs are well known for their ability to guide the blind or assist those with epilepsy. They are also known for their use of helping cope with PTSD. Now, they’re more popular than ever with college students. It’s no surprise that college is difficult, and can often cause extreme stress, anxiety, or depression. For those already struggling with a mental illness, this can be very daunting. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reported that over 10% of college students reported being diagnosed or treated for anxiety and/or depression in the past year. This percentage is especially prevalent when attending a small school such as WPI, as most students will know someone afflicted with depression. A study published by Stress and Health reported that the use of therapy dogs during stressful times at a university would prove beneficial to the happiness and stress reduction of students. If petting a dog for 10 minutes relieved the stress of a student for even a day during finals week, then imagine the benefits of having a therapy dog with you 24/7.

This idea was executed by Jackson, a student at WPI. Mental health of students is very important, and because of his history with depression, Jackson decided it was in his best interest to get an emotional support dog to help him cope with the struggles of school and his mental illness. Doug, a lab and border collie mix, is a vibrant and exploratory dog. “I still have to train him, service dogs are wicked hard to get,” Jackson said. Doug is a registered emotional support dog approved by a psychiatrist that Jackson will train, while service dogs go through rigorous schooling prior to going to their new home.

Even though emotional support animals are much easier to obtain than service, Jackson has still faced some challenges. Landlords are not very forgiving when it comes to pets. Around WPI, most apartment listings clearly say ‘no pets’. As he only just recently got his dog, he explained that his landlord was a little sketchy about it. Jackson sent his landlord a message explaining the situation. “I told him that I have a pre-diagnosed condition which entitles me to an emotional support animal. That I’ve always been a good tenant and respected his building and will continue to do the same. I mean legally he can’t say no.” The landlord didn’t completely shut out the idea but told him that the conversation was not over.

I was interested to know more about the landlords’ point of view, so I decided to call my parents back home, who rent out apartments. As soon as I asked if they’ve ever had to deal with pets, they had a story ready for me. They once rented an apartment to a woman who was hiding a dog. The apartment was ‘no pets’ and the tenant knew this, but hid the dog anyway. When it was found, she later claimed it to be an emotional support dog. “We never asked for a letter from the doctor,” my mom said. They let it slide, but the woman was consistently late on rent even though she always had money to take care of the dog. “There are often people that cannot financially afford the expense of the pet. And then when the pet has expenses associated with it, they fall behind on their rent.” The dog ended up having fleas and peed all over the apartment, causing a cleaning nightmare when the woman moved out. An irresponsible pet owner causes a very expensive moveout. “As a landlord, we feel like our experience has been that it’s just a loophole for people to have a pet in an apartment that didn’t otherwise allow it.”

Even though some people may abuse the system, if the pet is legally registered to be emotional support, the landlord cannot do anything about it. In the initial renting period, prior to signing the lease, a landlord has the right to refuse to rent to anyone. They could ask potential tenants about them before signing the lease and refuse an application to anyone indicating the use of one. However, if they already live in an apartment like Jackson, they cannot kick someone out solely on the grounds of having the animal, as stated by the federal Fair Housing Act. WPI is also required to accommodate anyone’s needs. With certain regulations, such as being leashed, up to date vaccination information, and some off-limit areas (with the exception of service dogs), they allow assistance animals. This includes living in on-campus housing. They do however have the right to remove the animal from campus if it poses a threat or disturbance.

Alternatively, some colleges are very pet friendly. Eckerd College in Florida is considered to be the number 1 pet friendly college. Most of their dorms allow animals such as cats, dogs, hedgehog, snakes, etc., while some only allow small pets like fish. Sofia McNally, a sophomore at Eckerd, thinks this is because the school likes to be different and realized it could draw people if they allowed pets. “It’s pretty nice except it can be difficult with a dog because you can’t bring them to class. But it’s nice if you need an emotional support animal,” she said.

As WPI has their own specific policies, I asked the Dean of Students to comment on his viewpoint of the situation. Greg Snoddy told me that emotional support animals are welcomed on campus and the guidelines are laid out in the Animals on Campus Policy. “Within the residence halls, we always need to be cognizant of the impact of any animal on the other residents of the building,” he said. These animals are allowed, but he noted the need for conversations between roommates and others who may be affected by animals on a floor or within a room.

There has been some backlash for people abusing the power to have an emotional support animal. Many students have pets in their apartments without informing their landlord. The distinction between the need to have the animal, and the want to have one is a fine line that in today’s climate can very easily be crossed. More people are stressed by the state of our national discourse, the economy, and the many environmental crises. The population of people with emotional support animals will likely be an upwards trend. There will also always be a high demand for a limited supply of apartments. My parents believe that most landlords would rather not deal with animals if they don’t have to, so it may affect people’s housing stability. Jackson is also nervous for the future with these animals. “There is a larger problem with service dogs that people try to finesse them, which undermines the legitimacy of them and the support they give. I personally think this leads to the lack of respect for their purpose,” he said. The hope is that there will be a mutual respect between the ESA owners and landlords. The trust is that the ESA is legitimate, and that the landlord will be accommodating.