Small dogs? Sure. Cats? Of course. Hedgehogs? Iguanas? Snakes? Chinchillas?
Yes. Those and other pets now are welcome in certain on-campus residence halls at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa.
This week the college unveiled a new policy that will allow students in specified on-campus housing to register their pets, pay a fee to cover expenses like “biodegradable poop bags and disposal,” and enjoy time with their furry, feathered or scale-covered companions.
“You love your pets and so do we!” the college declares in its online policy statement.
The policy is slated to take effect in the fall.
A release quotes Dean of Students Tacci Smith explaining the reasoning.
“Transitioning to college can be stressful. By allowing students to bring pets from home, we hope to provide a sense of home and companionship,” Smith stated. “It will help alleviate anxiety and homesickness that students can sometimes feel.”
Warren Wilson is setting aside specific residence halls for pets. There also will be pet-free residences.
The policy specifically allows most dogs up to 40 pounds, plus cats, rabbits, birds, chinchillas, ferrets, iguanas, non-venomous snakes up to 4 feet long, fish (in up to 10 gallon tanks), hedgehogs, hamsters, gerbils, Guinea pigs, small, non-venomous reptiles and rats.
Yes, rats.
Not all dogs are welcome. Excluded breeds include: Akita, American Pit Bull, Staffordshire Terrier, Alaskan Malamute, Bullmastiff, Chow, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd, Great Dane, all breeds of Huskies, Presa Canario (Canary Dog), Rottweiler, St. Bernard, wolf or coyote breeds and hybrids, Dalmatians, and dogs that are a mix of any of those breeds.
The fee is $250 for dogs, $150 for cats, rabbits, llarge birds, ferrets, iguanas, snakes and chinchillas, and $50 for fish and smaller mammals and reptiles.
There are no fees for service animals, which also don’t have to follow the weight and breed restrictions.
Warren Wilson College is hardly the first campus to welcome pets. According to a list of pet-friendly institutions compiled by College Raptor,
Eckerd College on Florida’s gulf coast has long been the trend setter. The college has pet-friendly policies dating back to 1973. “Two of our resident ferrets were even featured in the Wall Street Journal,” Eckerd’s web site boasts.
Others, including “cat-friendly” MIT and places like the University of Illinois and University of Northern Colorado, have had policies for years allowing certain pets in certain residence halls.
One of the most specific pet policies is at Kansas State University. It says: “Each pet must be relatively quiet, low in odor, nonpoisonous, nonvenomous, harmless and disease free.” And then it offers an amusingly specific list of allowable pets, including marsupials like small-tailed opossums and sugar gliders, fiddler crabs and even “Stick and leaf insects (families Phasmidae and Phyllidae), ornate beetles (order Coleoptera) and hissing cockroaches.”
There’s no word yet on whether “hissing cockroaches” one day might be allowed at Warren Wilson College.