For Better of Worse, Exonians Keep Dorm Pets

As the bell rings, students rush out of the science classroom. Lower Bob* lingers behind,  slipping his hand into an instructor’s cage of rats. After pocketing one of the rodents, he strolls back to his dorm and introduces it to its new home. Exeter’s E Book forbids students from having pets at Exeter; despite this rule, several students keep pets in their dorm rooms.

"Exeter’s E Book forbids students from having pets at Exeter; despite this rule, several students keep pets in their dorm rooms."

The E Book states that violating the ban on pets in student rooms “can result in disciplinary action.” However, Bob keeps his pet rat, Remmy, in his dorm room. He fondly describes Remmy as harmless. “Remmy is super curious and loves to climb, which is troublesome mostly, but he’s cute,” Bob said. “My roommates and I feed him rodent pellets and fruit everyday and let him exercise when we’re in the dorm.”

Science Instructor Frances Johnson recalled finding mice in a student’s closet in Lamont Hall. “A few years ago, I had a student and an old grey cat,” she said. “They got along very well, but later in the year, suddenly he didn’t seem to like her anymore.” Johnson’s cat would “smell the student’s hands and back off,” sometimes even hissing at her.

“A little bit later, I was checking her room and I heard funny noises in her closet,” Johnson continued. “So I open[ed] up the closet door, and there was a cage of mice.” According to Johnson, the smell of mice on the student’s hands explained why her cat was hesitant to go near her.

Johnson informed the student that mice were not allowed in the dorm. According to Johnson, the student was cooperative and gave the mice to faculty children.

Some students, however, have said that the confiscation of pets causes them emotional distress. “I had a pet hamster for several months. I adopted her as a source of comfort during some really rough times at the school,” lower Bia* said. “Exeter puts so much pressure on all of us, and at times it can be overwhelming to live at school without our usual safety networks.”

Bia described the positive effect the hamster had on her mental health. “Having a pet to come back to each day made my dorm room feel more like home,” she said. “Having something relying on me to survive prevented many of my self-destructive behaviors.”

Once the dorm faculty found her hamster, Bia was forced to give it away. “It was traumatizing having to so quickly say goodbye to something I had grown really attached to,” she said.

Lower Joshua*, who was unaware of the rules surrounding pets until he was interviewed for this article, recently bought 10 goldfish with his dorm-mates. “We just want some dorm bonding,” he said. “We clean the fish bowls and take care of the fish all together, it’s just something fun we do as a dorm.”

In certain instances, students are allowed to keep smaller animals in their rooms. Carol Cahalane, a Bancroft dorm faculty member, elaborated, “There has been a practice in some dorms, with the Dean of Students permission, that students may keep small fish in their rooms as long as they have care plans for breaks.”

Upper Dylan Yin kept a betta fish in his room until it passed away this November. “I got him because sometimes life here can be stressful, especially at night,” he said. “It helps to have something living in your room at night, especially if you’re up late doing homework.” Furthermore, Yin’s betta fish lessened his homesickness. “I have dogs at home and miss them a lot, so having a pet to take care of was a reminder of home,” he said.

“I looked up ways to take care of my fish on WikiHow; it has a pretty extensive guide of how to take care of a betta fish,” Yin said when asked about how he treated his pet. “I fed him twice per day, and I kept the temperature climate. They’re easy to take care of as long as you know what you’re doing.”

In Yin’s opinion, the rules concerning pets are too rigid. “For smaller pets like fish that are not going anywhere, I think of the rule as a bit too restrictive,” he said. “I think that students should be able to take care of animals as long as they are responsible.”

Bia shared Yin’s sentiments. “There are numerous studies proving that the presence of a pet reduces stress,” she said. “While dogs and cats may never be feasible, small animals can fulfill that need while not interfering with the workings of the dorm.”

Joshua also feels that the rules around pets should be relaxed. “We should make the rule more flexible for those who are capable of keeping a pet of such small size alive and healthy,” he said.

“The rules are dumb; a rat is so easy to take care of,” Bob added. “Students should be able to have animals such as hamsters with the dorm faculty’s knowledge and permission, as well as parental approval.”

However, Johnson noted how even smaller animals can cause inconveniences to students. “We don’t do room searches for pets; often, we notice pets because of the consequences,” she said. “People have allergies to pets. With male mice, they are famous for being very smelly animals.”

Even so, when students are caught with pets, they are usually cooperative with the dorm faculty, and the charges rarely, if ever, lead to the student appearing before the Disciplinary Committee. “I have no idea what the response would be for pets in a dorm, as it has never come up in my 14 years at PEA,” Disciplinary Committee Chair Jeffrey Ward said.