Top 10 Pet Friendly Colleges of 2011

Petside.com released its list of the top 10 Pet Friendly Colleges of 2011. And the winners are:

10. State University of New York at Canton – SUNY-Canton has an entire wing dedicated to students with “small, caged animals”. No dogs or cats allowed though, which is probably a good thing since they shouldn’t be kept in cages.

9. Lehigh – Fraternities and sororities can have one cat or dog per house as a mascot!

8. Sweet Briar College – Turtles and fish are acceptable. You also have a horse if you’re on the equestrian team.

7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Cats are allowed in 4 dormitories! Dogs, not so much.

6. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Students in designated living areas can have a 50 gallon fish tank and 2 companion pets (2 dogs! Now we’re talking).

5. Principa College – The college offers 7 living areas where students can have up to 2 dogs, cats, rabbits, small caged animals or aquatic animals.

4. Washington & Jefferson College -1 cat, dog (under 40 lbs), small bird, hamster, gerbil, or guinea pig are allowed in a designated pet dorm. All students are able to have fish in their room, as long as their tank doesn’t exceed 20 gallons.

3. Stetson University – Stetson has a dorm with 36 pet friendly rooms for your dog, cat, or small caged animals (including gerbils, mice, hamsters, etc.). The only catch is that pets must be under 30 lbs.

Bonus - The school built a dog park right outside the dorm!

2. Stephens College – It has a dedicated pet dorm for almost any pet including dogs, cats, gerbils and mice. It even has a Doggie Daycare on campus, complete with dog runs and a place to play while you head out to class.

Want more? Stephens has a program set up where students can foster a pet through Columbia Second Chance, a rescue organization.

Unfortunately, the school does practice breed discrimination. No Pit bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Chow or an Akitas. Not cool. No snakes and spiders either, which I personally think is a good thing.

1. Eckerd College – Snakes? Check. Fish? Check. Rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs? Check, check, check, check.

Dogs (less than 40 lbs.) and cats are permitted in 6 dorms, staff housing, and 1 academic building.

Breed discrimination alert! Pit bulls, rottweilers, wolf breeds, any aggressive breed, or any mix containing these, are not allowed.

4 barks

Reader Comments

Sounds like you and your friend are going to have a dorm room full of dogs! Sounds great.

i love Pit bulls i'm a kid but i wanna pick out a college where i can have 2 pit bulls and my bunny i just don't know me and my friend would probably go to the same 1 cause she's gonna have 2 dogs by then cause they're not even born yet but almost

I don't know of a formal policy on pets in the dorms at my school, Washington College, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, in Chestertown. I do remember that it was nothing unusual for people to have pets in the dorms I lived in. It also seems as if as students, people get along really well with pets in classrooms and so on, whereas now as adults, some people can be very prickly about things like dogs at outdoor restaurants. Since more than half of Americans own a pet, let's hope our tolerance grows, rather than declines! And for heaven's sakes, let's nix the suspicions and fearmongering about the "pit bull" type dog, those dogs that have been America's favorites for so very long!

After reading this I kinda feel sorry I am not in college years any more :) I would love to go to one of those and bring my pets with me.