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Yale Sees Huge Increase in Use of Emotional Support Animals

Yale Sees Huge Increase in Use of Emotional Support Animals

“Not all Yale students are pleased with the trend”

Are you a college student who wants to have a pet on campus? Here’s one way to do it.

The College Fix reports:

Number of emotional support animals at Yale increased by 1400% in last year

The number of emotional support animals at Yale University has reportedly skyrocketed recently, with 14 of them on campus this year, up from one the year before.

Not all Yale students are pleased with the trend.

One student who spoke anonymously with The Yale Daily News complained about persistent barking from two emotional support dogs who live in his dorm: “It can be really annoying…They bark at each other and interact with each other, and then they will be barking for like 10 minutes on end,” he said.

But the school is staying silent on the matter. The College Fix reached out to Yale for comment on their emotional support animal policy, and whether any scientific research demonstrated the effectiveness of these service animals. Yale did not respond.

Meanwhile, scientific evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of these animals is limited, with few studies having been conducted on the topic. The Fix contacted several psychology professors at Yale to ask if they had any comment on the effectiveness ESAs or school policy. None was willing to offer any comment.

Emotional support animals can be any animal “that provide[s] therapeutic benefits to their owner through affection and companionship,” according to the the Official ESA Registration of America. Most such animals are dogs, but any animal can be registered, including one hedgehog at Yale, The Yale Daily News reported recently. That report also notes that the number of these animals on campus has risen from one to 14 in the span of a year.

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Comments

If I could have had the option of an emotional support animal, I would have done that. Did I need it? No. but I would have jumped through any and all hoops had that been a possibility. How cool would that have been! Darn.

I’m sure they will keep bringing their “blankey” to class until they learn how to wear “big boy” pants.

healthguyfsu | May 16, 2018 at 4:04 pm

Someone tried to bring an emotional support guinea pig to our university…denied (luckily).

So, you’re saying those zookeepers who took the Kodiak bear to the Dairy Queen for ice cream were merely trying to sooth their inner self

My step-daughter attends a college that has pet dorms (she lived in one), with student-run pet councils that set and enforce policies concerning pet behavior. There are ferrets, cats, small dogs, snakes, and probably other critters. They don’t use the ESA moniker — they call them pets. There are size, weight, and species limits.
It’s actually a good experience. Having a pet to care for grounds a lot of students who otherwise might not be, um, so grounded.
I can understand, though, the complaints of students in Yale dorms who deal with barking dogs. Maybe Yale should go with the pet-dorm practice and let the pet owners police their own in this fashion.

I bet that if you asked any of the students with an ESA (aka, pet) that they would vehemenently deny that they were exploiting any sort of a loophole for personal again.

daniel_ream | May 16, 2018 at 7:47 pm

14 animals on a campus the size of Yale? This is not a story.

Waiting for the Federal lawsuit from a recent college graduate against the future employer for not allowing an ESA under the desk at work.

    Sanddog in reply to MarkS. | May 16, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    If you’re so emotionally unstable that you can’t get through the work day without your canine security blanket by your side, you’re not someone I’d want working for me.

The Left has indocrinated students to become a Red Guard that faints at first contact. Priceless.