Something that sets Albion College apart from other colleges/universities is the experience of Assistance Animals. While pets are not technically therapy animals – therapy animals have different requirements and expectations from an assistance animal – they are still extremely important for the many students who have been cleared to bring their pet to school.
The first steps to gaining an assistance animal is going to the Office of Residential Life and getting the process started. There will be at least two interviews – one with someone who works in Residential Life, and one with someone from the Learning Support Center. If you are requesting an assistance animal for depression, anxiety or another mental ailment, you will also need to see a therapist for an on-campus evaluation. Once approved, your roommate will need to submit a note of consent to the animal.
The most important part of your process is deciding upon the animal that will be the most helpful for you as an individual. I love dogs, and my family would have been more than happy to allow me to take our oldest dog with me to college; however, with my busy schedule, I would not be able to give a dog the proper care it would need – I don’t have time for walks between class every day and often had to pack my lunch when living in off-campus apartments. However, dogs are an irreplaceable source of companionship and love; if a dog is the kind of pet you need, then that’s the kind of assistance animal you should get. Cats seem to be a popular assistance animal within Albion; they are lower maintenance than dogs, they can be cuddly and cute depending upon the personality, they don’t need to be taken outside unless you want to, and additionally, I have a cat (which makes me slightly biased, but look at how cute she is).
Enter my cat, Blaze. She will be two years old in June, a tuxedo with half a mustache and only two toes on her back left paw. She was pregnant with a litter of kittens when she was found on the street, but is now neutered. She is, as per Albion’s requirements, up to date on all of her shots and registered at a veterinarian within the city of Albion. When I met her last February, I was desperately lonely. My kitten had passed away in October due to feline leukemia and I had a single, which I hadn’t been expecting. The apartment felt huge with just me, and my depression and anxiety were worse than ever. A dear friend and wonderful human being had a cat who was looking for a good home, and from the first meow beneath blankets, I was in love. Shy at first, she warmed up to me quickly, and never fails to complain on car rides or when hungry.
She helped me in many ways – my assistance animal was a source of ownership and comfort, on a basic level, but the deep relationship between a pet and their person was established. I no longer dreaded returning to my apartment, and I found a natural balance between getting my work done and playing with Blaze. She also reminded me that I needed to take care of myself, particularly with eating on a regular schedule (which can be hard when you need to prepare every meal yourself). My spirits were lifted when I adopted Blaze, and I found myself on a healthier and happier track.
The kind of satisfaction you get from a pet is vastly different from satisfaction found in human to human relationships. For people like me, who have a harder time expressing comfort and happiness around people I don’t know well, an assistance animal is a huge source of comfort and happiness. Having a cat helped me fall into a healthier routine and I know I am a happier person because of Blaze. She is an added expense with food and litter, and I have to keep track of her to make sure she doesn’t scratch furniture and keep her claws at a shorter length – but all of this helps enforce my own responsibility. I had to make sure I would go home routinely so she wouldn’t get lonely, and she in turn helped save me from loneliness. This is a key part of assistance animals – they help students of Albion College in ways that other relationships cannot help. They are a source of comfort and joy. They help ground students, help make a dorm room feel like home.
There is nothing quite as calming as a purring ball next to you as you drift to sleep. There may be a long process to get an assistance animal, but if you ask the students who have pets, I’m sure they would say the same thing as me – that it was worth it and that they are happier because of their furry (or perhaps scaly or feathered) baby. This treatment for mental health is one of the most successful I have experienced, and I think it’s great for the mental health of students that Albion College allows assistance animals.
