Pets in dorm rooms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Her story is suspect. Pet dander and saliva proteins do not cause skin lesions. They cause respiratory symptoms, as well as itchy/red eyes and a runny nose.

She needs to document a disability with the disability office and demand they accommodate her. She will need to provide a doctor’s letter stating she is allergic to X, Y and Z. She has to go to an allergist and get a back prick panel for common allergens.

All my son’s officially recognized disabilities are accommodated at his university.

She has a doctor's note and sent that all to the school.

I don't think there is some universal allergy symptoms. But she has eczema which resulted in significant skin issues and sensitivity. She is essentially on transplant rejection drugs now so that her immune system will stop overreacting to allergens.

[Anonymous]

I am shocked each time I visit my DD on campus at the number of students with service dogs. There's NO way they can all be legit, right?

DD has a chem lab with 2 service dogs in it. The dogs have to wear doggles and booties in the lab. While that is freaking adorable (I have seen the photos), what are the chances of two service dogs in one lab? There are multiple service dogs in her dorm, too.

As for pets, no, her dorm does not allow those. Not even caged pets like hamsters or pets that can live in tanks like reptiles or fish.

[Anonymous]

THey should then allow her out of her housing contract and move off campus. I see a ton of mid year graduates trying to sublet their rooms at my son's school. It's not fair but it is a solution.

[Anonymous]

https://www.umassmed.edu/TransitionsACR/resources/emotional-support-animals-101/

If you spend money for a diagnosis, your pet is allowed in housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this a normal thing in college now? My cousin has severe allergies to pets and she spent last year basically where her body went into immune overdrive to allergies where she could barely function (skin lesions and everything). It was link to pet dander exposure and she was moved into a special room in her door that was pet free (a respite room?). Now they want her to move back into the regular dorm and it is SUPPOSEDLY pet free but people keep ripping down the sign and she has seen pets (and people have told her they have pets). The school said they can't force people to remove pets because it is emotional support animals. But I was under the impression that emotional support animals were not covered under ADA and allergies are.

Anyway, do colleges just let pets in dorm rooms? This seems so weird to me. Also, it seems mean to pets.

Is the dorm mandatory?
Life is better outside of college housing. Dorms are for the kids.

[Anonymous]

If I went to college and my roommate had an emotional support pet I’d get out. Having an emotionally stable roommate is hard enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.umassmed.edu/TransitionsACR/resources/emotional-support-animals-101/

If you spend money for a diagnosis, your pet is allowed in housing.

That’s great and believe folks with ESAs should be accommodated. Also think that students should have the ability to live in a pet-free room and that one situation doesn’t trump the other.

[Anonymous]

Emotional Support Animals are a scam and the people who claim they need them are undeserving of a place in society. They should be ashamed for how difficult they make life in society for people with allergies, and for people who need a legitimate, trained and vetted service animal. You know, people with real problems.

All of humanity carried on just fine without bringing Puppers along to English class. And now absolutely everything can be accomplished virtually, so a person so incapable with anxiety that they can't manage the grocery store without their nasty rat dog wouldn't even be shut out from society. Their forcing their animals on us is nothing but a selfish power play, and I hold them in contempt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a normal thing in college now? My cousin has severe allergies to pets and she spent last year basically where her body went into immune overdrive to allergies where she could barely function (skin lesions and everything). It was link to pet dander exposure and she was moved into a special room in her door that was pet free (a respite room?). Now they want her to move back into the regular dorm and it is SUPPOSEDLY pet free but people keep ripping down the sign and she has seen pets (and people have told her they have pets). The school said they can't force people to remove pets because it is emotional support animals. But I was under the impression that emotional support animals were not covered under ADA and allergies are.

Anyway, do colleges just let pets in dorm rooms? This seems so weird to me. Also, it seems mean to pets.

Is the dorm mandatory?
Life is better outside of college housing. Dorms are for the kids.

Not required no, but almost all students live in dorms are four years. There is not much available housing off campus.

I will take this time to say that I HATE the idea of living in a dorm lol (at least when it comes to sharing a room). I hate it so much it makes me skin crawl. I never lived in a dorm myself (but went to community college before a university so it was a different situation). it just seems miserable to me. I can barely share a house with my family and I love them lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Emotional Support Animals are a scam and the people who claim they need them are undeserving of a place in society. They should be ashamed for how difficult they make life in society for people with allergies, and for people who need a legitimate, trained and vetted service animal. You know, people with real problems.

All of humanity carried on just fine without bringing Puppers along to English class. And now absolutely everything can be accomplished virtually, so a person so incapable with anxiety that they can't manage the grocery store without their nasty rat dog wouldn't even be shut out from society. Their forcing their animals on us is nothing but a selfish power play, and I hold them in contempt.

ESA’s aren’t allowed in either of those places.

You are both wrong and toxic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her story is suspect. Pet dander and saliva proteins do not cause skin lesions. They cause respiratory symptoms, as well as itchy/red eyes and a runny nose.

She needs to document a disability with the disability office and demand they accommodate her. She will need to provide a doctor’s letter stating she is allergic to X, Y and Z. She has to go to an allergist and get a back prick panel for common allergens.

All my son’s officially recognized disabilities are accommodated at his university.

She has a doctor's note and sent that all to the school.

I don't think there is some universal allergy symptoms. But she has eczema which resulted in significant skin issues and sensitivity. She is essentially on transplant rejection drugs now so that her immune system will stop overreacting to allergens.

1. There are universal allergy symptoms. As in, 99.9% of people will have those symptoms when exposed to their allergens. For airborne allergens, it's runny nose, itchy eyes, coughing, possible asthma attack, and more rarely, eczema. Has she been tested for seasonal allergies, dust mites and mold? Dust mites are a very common cause of allergy symptoms. The solution is encasing mattress and pillow in dust mite protectors and avoiding fabrics in the room, especially on the bed, like additional throws, shams, etc, as well as diligently vacuuming with a hepa filter vacuum. It's best to avoid too much upholstered fabrics in bedrooms altogether, like curtains, carpets, etc.

2. Eczema is a very complex issue that is not solely due to allergies. It is linked to genetic predisposition, anxiety and food and contact allergens (less so with airborne allergens). Perhaps your relatives is so anxious about her reactivity that she's getting eczema flare-ups, which, if persistent and not well treated, can lead to skin infections.

3. Your relative is on cyclosporine to treat her eczema. When you say "transplant rejection", you sound overly dramatic.

4. You still don't explain whether the Disability Office has given her a formal accommodation for her condition. It's very formalized, OP. There are forms or interviews to fill out, you can't just send a doctor's note to the general Resident Life inbox. Usually Disability Office people are very responsive. This is where she has to really lean into liability and compliance. If the Disability Office states that medical conditions are accommodated in residence halls, then she had to get her condition approved for accommodations, within the timeframe cited by the college, to get appropriate rooms. If they cannot accommodate something they claim to, then they can be pushed to offer alternative arrangements, such as housing reserved for older students, or visiting faculty, or contribute to paying for off-campus housing. She won't know unless she asks, and she will ask the right questions with a lawyer. So if she has exhausted all avenues herself, with the right documentation and approval, and she doesn't want to get a apartment or transfer, then it's time for a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Emotional Support Animals are a scam and the people who claim they need them are undeserving of a place in society. They should be ashamed for how difficult they make life in society for people with allergies, and for people who need a legitimate, trained and vetted service animal. You know, people with real problems.

All of humanity carried on just fine without bringing Puppers along to English class. And now absolutely everything can be accomplished virtually, so a person so incapable with anxiety that they can't manage the grocery store without their nasty rat dog wouldn't even be shut out from society. Their forcing their animals on us is nothing but a selfish power play, and I hold them in contempt.

You “hold them in contempt” and feel they should should be “shut out from society”????

OMG, seek therapy. And pray your child never has a mental illness!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous[b wrote:]Emotional Support Animals are a scam and the people who claim they need them are undeserving of a place in society. [/b]They should be ashamed for how difficult they make life in society for people with allergies, and for people who need a legitimate, trained and vetted service animal. You know, people with real problems.

All of humanity carried on just fine without bringing Puppers along to English class. And now absolutely everything can be accomplished virtually, so a person so incapable with anxiety that they can't manage the grocery store without their nasty rat dog wouldn't even be shut out from society. Their forcing their animals on us is nothing but a selfish power play, and I hold them in contempt.

No that would be you, actually, with this kind of nasty attitude.

You're the reason people suffer from mental health problems. You're awful. You're mean. And you make no allowance for people who experience things differently than you. You're an a$$hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]Emotional Support Animals are a scam and the people who claim they need them are undeserving of a place in society. [/b]They should be ashamed for how difficult they make life in society for people with allergies, and for people who need a legitimate, trained and vetted service animal. You know, people with real problems.

All of humanity carried on just fine without bringing Puppers along to English class. And now absolutely everything can be accomplished virtually, so a person so incapable with anxiety that they can't manage the grocery store without their nasty rat dog wouldn't even be shut out from society. Their forcing their animals on us is nothing but a selfish power play, and I hold them in contempt.

No that would be you, actually, with this kind of nasty attitude.

You're the reason people suffer from mental health problems. You're awful. You're mean. And you make no allowance for people who experience things differently than you. You're an a$$hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ESA’s are covered under Fair Housing laws but not ADA. So they are allowed in dorms with documentation.

But a university should be able to put together a suite of people with no pets for her.

Sadly it's very easy to get ESA papers whether one legitimately qualifies or not.

So what? It's not really your business so long as your kid with allergies can be kept away from them, if needed. The issue with the OP is the latter and not that there are pets in dorms.

It actually is a big deal when people pretend to have a service dog. I could explain why, but that would take this thread way too off-topic.