>From:    James O'Connell <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Ferrets in Dorm Rooms?
>Right now I am fighting the school on a no pets policy.  They allow fish
>but think that any other animal would be too much for the school to
>handle.  Does anyone see a reason why a ferret should not be allowed in
>a dorm room?
 
UVM's pet policy is similar.  They don't say that other pets would be too
much to handle, but their arguement is twofold.  1) People with allergies
should have the right to live in as much of an allergen-free environement
as possible.  Many people are allergic to mammalian pets, but I've never
heard of a fish allergy (jsut from being around fish as opposed to eating
them).  2) If a fish escapes from confinement, it ain't going far.  If a
hamster, ferret, guinea pig, etc.  escapes, there's no telling where it
might end up, alive or dead (can you say 'dead animal in the heating
system?').  Any pet that can be removed from its cage COULD make a mess of
the room, scratch doors, dig carpet, 'stain' carpet, etc.  It's much easier
to just disallow these animals than to argue on a case by case basis why a
certain student should have a pet and another should not.  I also don't
think that students living in dorms shouldn't have pets period.
Considering the attitude of SOME dorm-residents (there are a few in every
dorm), a small pet might end up the butt of a(n) (im)practical joke.  Dorm
life isn't fair for pets.  I say this as a college student who was out of
the dorms and in a stable living situation before I got any pets.
 
                                -Erin...
 
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|  ** LEARN MORE ABOUT ME!  http://www.uvm.edu/~eennis/resume.html **   |
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|  Mr. Erin M. Ennis    |      Any sufficiently convoluted argument can |
| eennis(at)zoo,uvm,edu |      be made to appear to be science as the   |
| Water Resources Major |      layman equates incomprehensibility with  |
|    Biology Minor      |      science.                                 |
|   Uni. of Vermont     |                               - Unknown       |
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[Posted in FML issue 2491]