Ohio Wesleyan University students can own a pet while living on campus. Through differing methods, students can register small pets that are within campus guidelines, emotional support pets, or service animals.
According to Res Life, on-campus students can only own small pets such as a fish, gerbil, hamster, or guinea pig. Larger pets, such as dogs and cats, are not permitted. Students who break this policy are charged with a fine and for any damages caused.
Students with accommodations may get approved emotional support pets for their dorm rooms. Res Life describes the guidelines for an emotional support pet on Ohio Wesleyan’s webpage.
“Emotional Support Animals must be approved and registered through the Accessibility Services Office. Ohio Wesleyan is committed to providing housing accommodation to students with disabilities in compliance with the most recent guidance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Students who require an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) may be permitted to bring an animal to campus as long as they comply with OWU's ESA policy.”
Service animals, dogs that are trained to do work or perform tasks for those with disabilities, are permitted on campus without registration through the Accessibility Services Office. Abby Markowitz, a student who had a service dog on campus last year, explained the process of bringing a service dog to Ohio Wesleyan.
“The process was pretty straightforward. You do not need approval for a service animal, you just have to tell them there will be an animal on campus and if you want to provide some information for emergencies and other things. It is very different than an ESA or pet on campus, for those there is a lot of paperwork and an entirely separate process,” said Markowitz.
Although the process of bringing her dog was straightforward, she did not have a straightforward experience once they arrived on campus. Markowitz received mixed responses to her service dog from different students and faculty members.
“My friends were really amazing about adjusting to having my dog around. I found the most pushback came from people I didn’t know who would complain if I said they couldn’t pet my dog while he was working. I also know several people started rumors that he made messes in class amongst other things. The faculty was mostly amazing and very helpful in finding adjustments to make sure my dog was safe and able to be with me in spaces such as class and lab. Some faculty were huge barriers to access for me, not only making me feel uncomfortable in spaces but also reporting me and my dog for things that never happened. While some professors excluded me from activities because they told me it wasn’t safe for my dog to be there when they just didn’t want my dog around,” said Markowitz.
After her experience last year, Markowitz chose not to bring her dog to campus this semester. She expressed her frustration towards her time with her dog at the university, as well as how she has witnessed other students with illegitimate service dogs have a more positive experience.
“After I went through so much difficulty with my service dog, I was very upset and shocked that several fake service animals that I know are or have been on this campus had no issues with the university whatsoever. You can’t tell me my difficulties are just a part of the process when I was doing nothing wrong or taking full accountability for any mistakes that were made and then people who lied about their dog’s training and were actually breaking the rules just got to coast with no consequences. It was very mentally degrading to struggle through navigating college life and these barriers with my dog, and it is a big reason why he is not on campus anymore,” said Markowitz
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