Pet facts:
70-80 million dogs and 76-94 million cats are owned in the U.S.
36.5 percent of households own dogs and 30.4 percent own cats in the U.S.
The average veterinary costs per year is $227 for dogs and $90 for cats
(via the American Veterinary Medical Association)
Pet owners know its true: no matter how much you miss your family and friends, there’s something different about missing your dogs, cats and other pets while you’re away at school. Some Ball State students have kept their furry friends with them and have found there are both pros and cons to keeping a pet while at school.
Rebecca Sampson, a junior psychology major, owns two cats, Fluffy and Charlie, in an off-campus house with her four roommates. The adoption was agreed upon by all members of the house, and Sampson said they have had an effect on her happiness.
“I feel a lot less stress — they’re a good stress relief to play with them or snuggle them for a while, especially during Finals Week last semester. I was so stressed out but then Charlie hopped up on my bed and I just snuggled him for a minute while I took a study break. I just felt so much better,” she said.
A study done at Ohio State University supports Sampson’s sentiment; the results found that students with pets were less likely to report feelings of depression and loneliness, and a quarter of student respondents felt their pets helped them persevere during challenging situations.
However, unforeseen challenges can occur that students may not be aware of at first. Couple Mandy Bode and Jake Crosley, seniors at Ball State, adopted their dog Piper at the beginning of the Fall Semester, and while they have loved having her, it did take a toll at first on their budget.
“[Piper] can be expensive. We’ve had some big vet bills and then we had to pay more on our rent to have her,” Crosley said.
Bode said the vet bills were primarily due to the fact that Piper was a rescue dog; many of the routine procedures had not yet been performed.
Owning a pet also comes with added scheduling responsibility. Alex Didat, a senior accounting major, has a golden retriever, Rodger, living in his house that he shares with roommates. He notes the importance of making sure you have enough time and space for a pet to live.
“If there is a dynamic where there are enough people in the house, someone is there almost every hour of the day, then yes, [you can get a dog]. But if you have a dorm-like jail cell, do not get a dog that’s a lab or something big — I don’t know, I just don't like the idea of it being imprisoned like that,” he said.
Both Didat and Sampson mentioned the benefit of owning a pet in a house with a lot of roommates — the more people living in the house, the more likely it is that someone is going to be home and able to take care of the pet without leaving it alone for long stretches of time.
The biggest thing that pet ownership seemed to teach, however, was the responsibility involved in taking care of another being.
“I’ve always grown up with pets, but it was my parents’ responsibility. I’d just pet and not really do any of the dirty work,” Bode said. “That was definitely one of the things that really stressed me out at the beginning — starting a new semester and having a pet. It was a change to have to get on that schedule of when she’s going to go out, when we feed her, things like that.”
Didat added to this idea, explaining that owning a dog had allowed him to learn how to take care of another being and put their needs before his own.
“You’re kind of selfless about it. He’s not my dog, but I’ve been taking him out for the past week and expect nothing back in return from him. I’d rather make him happy than anything else,” Didat said.
All four pet owners expressed deep love and appreciation for their furry friends and agreed that school would be a different experience without them.
Bode and Crosley have made Piper the unofficial mascot for the Ball State Runner’s Association they are a part of, and both agreed that she is “a lifelong puppy.”
Overall, pet ownership can be a positive in both teaching responsibility and adding comfort and fun to a student's lifestyle, as long as the student feels ready to take on the responsibility of owning that pet.
Didat said the best thing about being a pet owner is not only the happiness pets cause, but the happiness the owners give them.
“Nothing makes you feel better than coming home, and you’re just tired from school or work, and just seeing this big, old, fluffy ball running at you and just thinking, 'This is the happiest moment of his day, seeing you,'” he said.
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