Pets in college: no animal should be left behind

My grandfather had a dog while I was growing up, and he treated his dog as if it were his kin.

When I was 11 my parents bought my brother and I a dog, and my parents treated our dog the same way my grandfather treated his.

I was taught at a young age that pets are family, and you do not abandon family.

In college, students sometimes feel the need to get a pet, which is completely reasonable because pets can make the best companions. Some colleges even use dogs as stress relievers for students, according to an article from USA TODAY. Here at WSU the “Pet Your Stress Away” program brings local shelter animals to campus every semester before finals week.

The downside to owning a pet in college is that when a student graduates or goes home for the summer, they are often unable to take their companion with them.

The excuses for abandoning their animal can range anywhere from “I’m moving to another state” to “My parents didn’t know I had a pet.”

College students should think long and hard about the animal’s life before they go through with a pet purchase or adoption. No pet should be left behind.

“Moving is one of the biggest reasons for surrendering animals, especially at the end of the school year,” said Kylene Daschofsky, interim director of shelter operations for Whitman County Humane Society.

Surrendering is when an owner is incapable of taking care of an animal and gives it up to the shelter so that it can find another home. Surrenders are more frequent from college students toward the end of the school year, Dachofsky said.

Some people even try to leave their animals at the Humane Society and adopt them back when school starts, but doing so is against the shelter’s surrendering contract. Which makes perfect sense, because shelters do not serve as a day care and the decision between taking care of a pet and opting not to shouldn’t be tossed back and forth.

The shelter is not a pet hotel.

When you surrender an animal, you give up all rights to the animal and the shelter tries to find them a better home.

As much as children need love, animals brought into homes need the same amount.

Studies have shown that pets, mostly dogs, have secure base effect bonds to their owners, which is also found in infants with their caregivers, according to an article on Medical Daily.

This is a strong bond that animals make with a specific person who takes care of them, and uses that person as a base for interacting with their environment, according to the same article.

No animal deserves to have that bond broken.

Another major reason animals are brought to the humane society is because people don’t realize the responsibilities involved with owning a pet.

“The most important thing a college student needs to do before having a pet is research,” Daschofsky said.

College students and people in general need to look at all of the details. These details include the type of animals they want, the animal’s behavior, the cost of vaccinations, living arrangements, and most importantly, potential pet owners need to put the quality of the animal’s life as top priority.

People need to ask themselves, “Where will I be in five years, 10 years, or even 15 years from now?” Depending on the type of animal, the likelihood of a pet still being alive in those years can be high, so pet owners should plan accordingly.

“The best home for an animal is to be in a warm and cared for home forever,” Daschofsky said.

Currently the Whitman County Humane Society is sheltering three bearded dragons, 15 cats and around 10 dogs, all waiting to be adopted.

Some of these animals are at the shelter for less than a week, while others stay for more than a year.

Students who are thinking about getting pets in college should take in these considerations before making any type of commitment to an animal.

Then, and only then, those students who truly understand the responsibilities of having a pet should think about adopting.

No animal should be left behind. Every animal deserves a warm, loving home forever.

– Marissa Mararac is a junior communication major from Tacoma. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.