To help stay calm before the storm of finals week, students will have the opportunity interact with adoptable animals at the “Pet Your Stress Away” event.

Cats and dogs from the Whitman County Humane Society will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday in the CUB Butch’s Den.

The Office of the Dean of Students has collaborated with many organizations, including the Whitman County Humane Society (WCHS) and the CUB Administration, in making this event possible for the past two years. 

“Pet Your Stress Away” was implemented to provide students, staff and faculty a venue to relax, Residential Education Director Ray Acuna-Luna said. Acuna-Luna is one of the event’s co-organizers.

Shane McFarland, WSU Wellbeing Coordinator, said the goal of this event is to give an activity that’s a little bit different and engaging.

Representatives from WSU Wellbeing will be at the event sharing different techniques to cope with and prevent stress and promote their stress management workshops, McFarland said.

Researchers will also be conducting behavioral studies on human and animal interaction to see if animals actually do reduce a person’s stress levels.

“We understand that finals are very stressful, not only for students, but for faculty and staff members,” Acuna-Luna said.

Kylene Daschofsky, WCHS Interim Director of Shelter Operations, said not only does this event help students relieve stress, but also good for the animals.

This event has really helped in exposing the animals up for adoption overall, the Humane Society, and it helps them promote and recruit student volunteers for the summer, Daschofsky said.

Acuna-Luna said there were up to 300 people at the last “Pet Your Stress Away” event.  As a result this year the event will have increased the amount of pets visiting campus so more students will be able to participate.

“The Whitman County Humane Society has been really gracious for allowing us to use their animals and bring the animals from their shelter for students to play with. They have been very accommodating,” Acuna-Luna said.

This semester, there will be a total of four to five dogs and six cats of different age ranges, from a senior dog that is deaf and blind to a 12-week-old puppy to a lot of young, juvenile cats, Daschofsky said.

According to Daschofsky, a lot of students look forward to this event, especially students who live in residence halls where pets aren’t allowed or students who miss their pets back at home.

Both Daschofsky and Acuna-Luna said there were a lot of students from past events that looked happy and refreshed after petting the animals.

Students are encouraged to line up early for the event on the ground level of the CUB.