Rachel Spinella
Features Editor

When it comes to college, the biggest life changing experience can be moving away from home. Leaving the one home that you have known almost your entire life and moving into a dorm or an apartment for the first time can be both stressful and scary all at once.

For almost any young adult just starting college, moving away from home seems like a good idea when it comes to getting away from Mom and Dad. But as much as college students may deny it, chances are they may get lonely or even homesick.

Some college students have even considered adopting an animal companion or a pet. However, UNCG only permits owning fish or service animals when living on campus. Should UNCG consider allowing pets in dorms and apartments? And are pets good for the university life?

According to Accredit Online Schools, a website that provides high education resources, there are many different pros and cons to owning a pet in college. Some pros to owning a pet are their companionship, their help in making new friends and the fact that they encourage exercise and give a mental health boost.

However, with that there are also a few negatives to owning a pet. They are expensive to own, a big commitment, can limit where you can live and can get in the way of spontaneity. This means that even though pets care about their human companions, they don’t care about the fact that their human is a student with a busy and stressful schedule.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), claims that having pets can bring many health benefits. These health benefits include decreased blood pressure, decreased cholesterol levels, decreased triglyceride levels, decreased feelings of loneliness and increased opportunities for exercise or outdoor activities as well as increased opportunities for socialization.

Some universities, although uncommon or quite rare, do allow students to own pets on campus. According to the College Raptor, there are at least thirteen universities or colleges that allow animals in dorms or apartments on college campuses.

These thirteen universities are Eckerd College, Lees-McRae College, Stephens College, Stetson University, Principia College, Washington and Jefferson College, University of Northern Colorado, University of Idaho, Johnson and Wales University-Providence, University of Washington, University of Illinois, MIT and Caltech.

The answer to whether UNCG should allow pets on campus may depend on the situation or the student’s living arrangements. There may be people who don’t like pets, and pets can provide a serious source of allergies. Even more, the actual animals that would be allowed on campus would have to be defined exactly.

Some students may lean more toward our fluffy or furry friends, whether that may be dogs or cats, while others may prefer reptiles over furry creatures.

Whatever domesticated animal you prefer, one thing for sure is that these companions bring love and support in a college student’s life, though they also take a great deal of responsibility and commitment. Should UNCG consider allowing pets to live on campus with students?