The question of having pets in the residential halls at NSU does not have a “yes” or “no” answer. Daren Capirchio, associate director of Residential Life, and Jennifer Wilson, director of Student Disability Services, were able to give insight behind having animals in residential living.
Residential Life and Student Disability Services work very closely together to ensure the safety and comfort of anybody who could be affected by an animal in the residential halls.
“There are moving parts, and I think that our offices collaborate together as well as we can in the best interest of the student who is identifying with this need, as well as the safety and concern of others,” said Wilson.
The current pet policy for the halls at NSU prohibits all animals except fish and approved service and emotional support animals. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), acceptable service animals are non-breed-specific dogs and miniature ponies between 24-34 inches and 70-100 pounds. Support animals, however, do not have a limitation as to what type of animal they may be. As a handler of the pet, there are specific requirements and regulations that each person with a service animal has to comply by. This includes the proper cleanliness and hygiene of the animal, as well as walking and general care of the animal.
There is so much background work that goes into placing a student and their service/support animal in the halls. Not only does the student who owns the animal have to go through a process of getting approved, but there also has to be care when placing the student and their pet with others. Because most of the housing on campus is communal living, an important factor to be considered is how the roommates are going to feel about living with an animal.
“If you were to move into a suite and you had an animal and there’s four other people living in that suite, the conversation has to happen with everybody because maybe I’m highly allergic or I’m scared to death of dogs,” said Capirchio.
Each individual case is cared for in its own way.
“It really depends on the situation. It’s hard to give you black and white for every case,” said Wilson.
No matter what the case is, having a service/support animal can make a difference in somebody’s life, and Student Disabilities Services and Residential Life work together to make sure that everyone is benefitting.
“At the end of the day, if Jen makes a recommendation to us, we’re going to do everything we can to meet that, no matter what the recommendation is,” said Capirchio.
For now, pets are strictly for those who are in need of a little extra help, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t get excited every time we see a dog walking around campus.
