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Tuesday, February 26, 2002

By Jane Elizabeth, Post-Gazette Education Writer

In most colleges across the country, the rules regarding pets in dormitories are pretty simple: Forget it. Animals other than fish typically are banned from campus housing for practical reasons. They can be noisy, dirty, smelly, unhealthy, even dangerous. But in a handful of schools across the country, university officials are thinking outside the box known as the dorm room.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology tried allowing cats on campus two years ago. It has worked so well, school officials said, they're doing it again this year.

"What I hear from the students over and over again is that they want the companionship," said MIT Housing Director Karen Nilsson. "When our students have a heck of a day at the lab, they like to come home to that nurturing atmosphere."

Cats are banned on most campuses, but they're allowed in four dormitories at MIT. The cats must be spayed or neutered, have all their required shots, be registered with the campus housing office, and have the approval of every resident on the floor.

"If there are any complaints, like the cat is not behaving or is getting into other people's rooms, there are no questions -- the cat is gone," Nilsson said.

But there have been few problems. "What we found is that students are incredibly responsible. They have followed all the rules and regulations," she said.

At the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena -- MIT's West Coast rival -- cats owned by undergraduates roam the campus. Each has a collar that identifies its owner's dorm.

"We have a couple that will come up to the office door," said Cal Tech Housing Coordinator Stephanie Hancock. To faculty and staff, they're conversation pieces. "For the students, they provide some measure of comfort."

At the State University of New York, Canton, one dormitory has become the pet dorm..

The dorm "is always one of the closest we have" in the camaraderie among students, said SUNY Housing Coordinator Ron Mason.

Students are allowed to have snakes, cats, hamsters and rabbits, and even a chinchilla showed up, Mason said. "We allow anything that could fit in a small cage," he said -- although no dogs. "We make sure that all the animals have their shots and that they're healthy. The cats need to have a flea collar."

While pet policies are in their infancy on some campuses, Shimer College in Waukegan, Ill., is proud of its policy, which has allowed pets for years.

Jim Donovan, the former housing director and now director of the college's non-traditional academic program, remembers its inception.

Several years ago, students decided they'd like to have animals in their dorm rooms. So, as with all new ideas on campus, the request was brought up at the regular campus assembly, in which all students and faculty and even alumni vote on policies.

"At the assembly, the majority of students voted in favor [of pets], but the majority of faculty and staff voted against it," said Donovan. The students won.

One dorm is pet-free to accommodate students with allergies, but other dorms are full of birds, fish, snakes, various rodents, large turtles, and cats.

Because only about 110 students attend the school, requests can be considered on a case-by-case basis. So far, no dogs have been allowed "because they tend to be noisy and need to be let out two to three times a day."

But, Donovan added, "If someone wanted to try to convince us that the dog would use the litter box, we would listen."

Officials at colleges that allow animals say a well-defined policy keeps pets in good health and keeps students honest. College students, after all, have been known to break the rules.

Still, at the University of Pittsburgh, sophomore Jen O'Brien doesn't know how she could get around the school's fish-only rule.

"Some of my friends say that if they wanted to, they could sneak a pet into the dorm and keep it there, but I disagree," said O'Brien, of Penn Hills. The resident assistants "know just about everything that goes on in the dorms, and when they do random room checks, it would be hard to quickly hide a golden retriever, if you ask me."

She makes do with her pet fish, Fuddle. "He doesn't require a lot of care," O'Brien said.

And that's probably the best kind of dorm pet, said veterinarian Teresa Meyer, medical director of VCA Castle Shannon Animal Hospital.

"Pets have wonderful capabilities of companionship, no question," said Meyer. But cats in a dorm room? "I wouldn't recommend it, to tell you the truth. It sounds like a lonely existence for a cat."

The presence of cats and other furry animals can mean "a few extra problems -- like fleas," Shimer's Donovan acknowledged.

"But for the minor headaches it causes me on occasion, the advantage for the students is their sense of well-being."