Upon entering college students suddenly become aware that they are able to make their own choices. Being so far away from home and having no one to tell you what to do can be quite thrilling. This often means staying out late, enjoying plenty of adult drinks, deciding when you should and shouldn’t go to class, and for many students, deciding that the only thing missing in your perfect life is a furry little something to cuddle and squeeze. Having personally witnessed over half of my friends indulge in pet adoption while still living in the dorms I noticed a sad but true trend. Out of all the pets that entered my friends’ lives, maybe two still remain a part of the family today.
Organizations all over the world are working to raise awareness about pet adoption, familiar with the term ‘forever home’? Animal shelters are providing great incentives for people to spay and neuter their pets. Some places do it for free upon adoption, some for free, and some do it for incredibly low prices. This is a good start to keeping animals out of the shelter. However the problem for most college towns isn’t necessarily that there are too many animals in the shelter, it’s that too many animals come back to the shelter.
We were always told of the huge responsibility it is to own a pet. Maybe it’s not so hard having that kind of responsibility when our parents are there to make sure we do it. The problem is, when we go to college our parents aren’t there to pick up the slack. Students adopt animals and later realize that they can’t take care of them. Some aren’t even adopted, they are bought and then taken to the animal shelter because the responsibility of owning a pet becomes too much. Shelters in college towns typically see a rise in adoptions at the beginning of the school year, but an increase in animal residents at the end. This could possibly be because students bought these animals without permission from their parents and now are unable to take them home with them.
After speaking with the animal shelter in Las Cruces, I was informed that they won’t allow someone to adopt from their shelter after returning a pet. This is because too many animals get taken to a home without the adopter understanding the full weight of owning a pet. According to one of the employees these animals actually have changes in mood after they are returned, “That dog spends the rest of its time here wondering what it did wrong and why it had to come back”. Many shelters try to provide for these animals but most only run on donations and often can’t accommodate the animals being brought to them. These shelters try to remain ‘no kills’ but don’t always have that option. According to the pet statistics on www.aspca.org around 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized each year.
While adopting a pet has huge benefits, it is not the pet’s job to take care of itself. Owning an animal doesn’t only require feeding it, cleaning up after it, and maintaining it, but animals need attention. No dog deserves to be neglected because its owner choses to go out every Friday night. Most dormitories and college apartment complexes won’t even allow pets because the sad truth is that they often go uncared for.
I can’t say that I don’t personally see the thrill in owning a pet. I personally want to take home every cute furry face I meet. Obviously this isn’t an option, so how can someone who isn’t ready to take on having a pet get to interact with them? There’s plenty of ways actually. If you’re needing some wet slobbery kisses from something with paws and a tail try talking to your local animal shelter. Most offer volunteer programs that allow people to come in and play and spend time with the animals. Studies have shown that this has positive benefits for the animals and the volunteers. Some shelters even allow the volunteers to take the animals out on walks for a couple of hours. If your heart can’t take seeing all of those cute faces but you still want to spend time with some four legged friends, try pet sitting! This is a great way to earn some extra cash and hang out with all kinds of different, cool animals that you might not even find in a shelter. There are even ways to become a certified dog walker! The next step is to get a flier made or an ad on craigslist and you’re good to go. If you’re looking for something more consistent perhaps working at a pet store or a groomer is the way to go.
The point is, owning a pet isn’t always the right way to go. If you later realize that having a pet is too much for you, it’s never you that really pays for it, it’s the animals. If you are looking for some companionship while you’re in school, be sure to have the money, time, and right accommodations for it. If you’ve never owned a pet, perhaps start with a fish.