Since the start of this school year, there has been an increase of pets in residential apartments by Behrend students. Along with this increase comes both the ups and downs, as with anything in life.

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As college students are often faced with large amounts of stressed, sometimes depression and anxiety can work their way into the picture. Having a furry friend to come home to could significantly reduce effects of these conditions. That’s why a lot of schools allow students to have therapy pets.

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With many people viewing pets as cute, having a dog or cat running around in the room can add a lot of fun and help to relax the atmosphere. Cuddling with pets can easily help aid negative emotions. After a long day of school, students could use  a soft, cute companion from their fully puppies or kittens. According to the Boston Globe, just seeing them walking or playing around is relaxing and helps generate endorphins, which is the chemical that can make people feel happy. Under the stress of assignments, projects, exams and papers, each student has a need to find their own coping methods in order to handle the pressure. Some students choose exercise and other stuff to do, but some students choose pets! From the spreading use of therapy pets, we could see how important animals are for the negative life experiences or emotions. When students are used to having pets at home for the first 18 years of their lives, continuing this comfort could be a major relief for students who are feeling homesick. The unconditional love that animal offers is not replaceable.

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On the other hand, having pets in apartments also comes with negative aspects.When they are sick, they need vets and the charge is often not cheap.  Pets require an ample amount of time and attention. With a lot of time and energy spent on them, the students could not able to study enough for their school works. This situation could endanger their academic lives. Plus, animals’ activities are unpredictable. If the pets ever hurt someone, students need to take the responsibility. So it is somehow dangerous for students to have pets. Pets could also damage the facilities in the apartments which also requires students to take responsibility for it.

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There are many international students in the school also have pets in their apartments. Because they feel alone living outside of their country and have to deal with the extra stress from language issues and culture shock, it is reasonable for them to have pets. However, there are many international students who do not want to take full responsibility for their pets. They buy the pets because they want the pets to be with them at school. When they graduate, they often have to give these pets away. From the pet’s perspective, it could be heart-wrenching for their owners to abandon them. The pets spend a lot of time to be with their owner, but could feel as if their owners do not take  them seriously or consider them as family. After all, pets are living beings too. As college students, we might have a lot of things going on in our world, but all your pets have is you.