With all the stress from classes, it is nice to come home to a pet that is always happy to see you. Sara Griffith, Allison Reed and Maggie McMillan all know what it is like to have an emotional support animal (ESA) at Winthrop.
Reed, a junior biology major, who had her dog Murphy on campus only for spring semester 2019, said that the best part for her was, “having someone to come home to.”
Reed was living in Courtyard at the time with roommates that were private so it was nice for her to have someone to interact with.
McMillan, a junior human nutrition major, is currently enjoying the perks of having her 7-month-old cat Theo on campus with her. She loves knowing he is back at home in the dorm and, “being able to wake up to him and cuddle with him and just laugh.”
These animals do not just provide the feeling of home like normal pets. Instead, they are there to help these students in whatever way possible.
Griffith, a senior elementary education major, has had her cat on campus since freshman year and the fact that this is possible was one of her deciding factors when coming to Winthrop.
“I am able to have extra support for when I am in crisis or when I or close friends are in need,” Griffith said.
Pets are a great way to destress and no matter how you are feeling they pick up one’s mood when around them.
“He just, whenever I am in a bad position, when I am in a bad mood, he helps cheer me up,” McMillan said about her cat Theo.
An essential part of owning an ESA is taking care of them.
“He helps keep me on track cause no matter how I am feeling I got to make sure he is fed and has water and clean his litter box,” McMillan said.
It is not just about making sure she gets everything she needs to be done for school — she knows that there is another creature who is relying on her to survive. Reed also shares the same experience.
“It made me feel like I was helping someone other than myself like being part of something bigger than yourself,” Reed said.
These creatures rely on their owners just as much as the students depend on them. Students chose to have ESAs for various reasons on campus. Reed made Murphy an ESA because her parents were going to be moving overseas and her two older brothers were ruled out for various reasons. McMillan could not picture living at Winthrop without her cat and has medical reasons for needing Theo on campus. As for Griffith, she knew she wanted one before coming to campus.
Some may think that an ESA is used just as an excuse to have a pet on campus. These girls disagree.
“ESAs are supposed to serve a purpose to help their owner, similarly to a service animal but on a lesser bar,” Griffith said.
Even though people often believe that because they want a pet they can bring them in as ESAs, these pets do serve a purpose to their owner. Both Reed and McMillan believe that this policy is not abused on campus because of the procedure to get an ESA approved. Reed said the process, “was just a lot of hoops to jump through.”
“You need an ESA just to get through the ESA process,” McMillan said, due to the fact as she said, “it was a long and stressful” process.
The procedure is an eight step process. According to the emotional support animal page on Winthrop’s website, a student must first obtain the forms and guidelines from the Office of Accessibility. These forms include a personal statement from the student, the emotional support animal disability verification filled out by the student’s physician, and the ESA’s owner’s responsibility and guidelines form. Students will also need an up to date health record and vaccination history of their pet signed off by their veterinarian.
Once this is completely filled out, they must fill out new accommodations forms online and submit these documents with it. From there the Office of Accessibility will reach out to a student if they have any more questions or they might ask to set up an appointment with you in person.
Students are required to have an appointment with the office to discuss guidelines and responsibilities for the fourth step. From there, residence life is contacted via email and will discuss housing options for students with ESAs. Once housing is figured out, roommates or suitemates will be contacted to make sure they are okay with having them in the dorm room. If one roommate says no, the student with the ESA will have to be reassigned to a different room.
When all this is done, residence life will contact the student with room information. The student is then required to meet with their Resident Learning Coordinator to review the maintenance agreement for the residence they are staying in. Finally, the student can move in with their ESA.
For more information about ESAs and the approval process, visit https://www.winthrop.edu/hcs/emotional-support-animal-guidelines-and-procedures.aspx.
Photo: Sam Ross/ The Johnsonian
