Owning a pet can be a fulfilling experience, one that does not come without a great deal of responsibility. Many UW-La Crosse students find that having a pet can be just what they needed, as long as they are able to keep up on the care that creature deserves. The necessary sacrifices a college student must make to own a pet are worth it when they are able to say hello to their best friend at the end of a long day.

Getting a pet in college can have a lot of positives and negatives that all must be taken into account—things such as available time, money, space and more. The issue with college students is all of that is subject to frequent change and can cause problems in becoming the owner of an animal companion.

Despite these complications, the Coulee Region Humane Society does not change their protocol when the prospective owner is a student. Sam Luhmann is the Community Outreach Coordinator at the Humane Society and commented on business with college students, “We don’t do anything different for certain groups of people.” Luhmann describes, “Whether you’re a college student, a single adult or a whole family, our criteria for adoption is going to be the same.”

Some students are grateful of this because they utilize pets to help cope with stress that comes with being a student. Kristen Olsen is a UW-L student that also owns a young puppy. Olsen explains why they got a pet, “I have depression and get stressed out by school a lot, but dogs help with that.” Olsen elaborated, “Since she is a puppy it has been a lot of work. Not stressful, just inconvenient if I have to work or study. It is all worth it though.”

Despite their current circumstances, college students usually have an unknown future, which is not great for pets. Luhmann elaborated on the unknown future of students, “As a college student, I know from experience, that life changes a lot.” Luhmann continues, “Make sure you are able to accommodate the animal’s needs as well as your life changes.”

The changing environment of a young person is an issue that Betsy Davis encountered with her green iguana named Reptar. Having an almost five-foot-long iguana can be interesting, “The most challenging thing about having a pet as a young person is having the space.” Davis describes, “Moving around is pretty difficult for Reptar. He is a reptile, so he gets stressed when you change his environment a lot.”

With the complication of college, the question arises of how pet ownership changes after school. Elena Goetzinger has graduated since she got her dog, Trooper when she was a student at UW-L. Elena comments on her experience, “Being a pet owner in and out of school is similar yet different on a variety of levels.” Elena elaborated by saying that her college schedule allowed her to be much more flexible, while after graduating, the extra money from her full-time job made paying for her pet easier.

With all said and done, Luhmann thinks that  any college student can be a good pet owner, with the proper preparations, “Do your research and know what you are getting yourself into,” says Luhmann, “Have a plan in place and know that when you are adopting an animal, you are going to have this animal for the duration of their life, and that can be different over the years.”

For more information on pet adoption contact Samantha Luhmann at [email protected].