A Soft and Cuddly Controversy: Support Animals
By Giana Gualda
Stonehill News Blog Staff
Stonehill News Blog Staff
EASTON- Stonehill College offers academic and emotional accommodations for their students. Although there are regulations, each student is allowed to have a personalized accommodation style. A rather popular accommodation that has accumulated throughout the years is support animals. With this growing number, concerns have been raised among the public. According to an online survey presented by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
“An anonymous, online survey was distributed to examine the perceptions of US adults who do not own any type of assistance animal. A total of 505 individuals responded to the online survey, yielding 284 usable responses. Results suggest widespread misconceptions about definitions, rules, regulations, and rights associated with each type of assistance dog.”
Students with support animals want to advocate for their dog’s helpful services. Stonehill College student Joanna Vadola spoke on behalf of her assigned therapy dog, Pippa.
Vadola was a sophomore in college when she heard of the idea from a friend that she would be eligible for an emotional support animal.
“I have trouble with being alone, my friend thought it would be a great idea to apply for a support animal!” she said.
Vadola said the process of getting a support animal is not difficult. She got approved by a medical doctor and then got clearance from the Veterinarian. Her support animal Pippa was introduced to her, and she immediately bonded with her.
According to the survey from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
“Emotional support animals are defined as an animal of any species that provides emotional support and/or therapeutic benefit to an individual with a verifiable mental or psychiatric disability”.
Vadola qualified for this treatment due to personal regards, however, there has been other individuals that have asked Vadola why she has a dog. Her response was,
“I found it extremely uncomfortable when parents ask me why I have a dog. This is my medical business only, and I refuse to answer” She said.
Vadola received several complaints about her support animal, such as barking and walks. She now has put signs on her door indicating that there is an animal present in the building.
Vadola is a residence assistant who lives in a single bedroom dorm room. She felt isolated from her friends, which did not help her condition. Pippa provides emotional support and a sense of responsibility for Vadola. Vadola spoke out and said,
“She really helps me, I take time to walk her and take care of her, which helps takes care of myself as well” She said.
Vadola believes it is unfair to question or call out people who need support animals. She says
“Dogs provide happiness, which is perfect for a college atmosphere. It hurts me that there is a controversy among such a supportive treatment” She said.
Another student at Stonehill, Gabriella Therrien, has owned and raised many therapy dogs. She spoke on behalf of her own experiences. She said,
“My family has raised therapy and support animals since I was little, so I have been around dogs for 19 years of my life” She said.
Therrien has a dog of her own named Chase, and he provides special assistance to help her, “anxiety and emotional health” she said.
Therrien is dedicating her educational studies towards psychology and wants to pursue her dream of fostering and caring for animals needed for therapy or other methods of support.
The college, however, gave Therriena hard time when her emotional support dog transferred to a service dog. She said,
“At the beginning of the year that he was in training to be a service dog just so they could have a heads up. I had met with them and then they proceeded to tell me that under Massachusetts state law, psychiatric service dogs are not protected under law” She said
The Official US Service Animal & Support Animal Registry is an organization involving the registration of a licensed support animal. Dr. Cheryl is an expert in the field. She works in customer service and helps sign registration forms. She said,
“We hear how important their animals are, they are all they have. We get calls of people sobbing on the other line, pleading how important their animals are to them” she said.
Therrien did her own research, and while Massachusetts state law does not outright talk about psychiatric service dogs, they do imply that they are also considered service dogs. Stonehill College is a private institute meaning they follow federal law and not state law. Therriensaid,
“The definition of service dog includespsychiatric service dogs under the ADA. The ADA also must be followed in all states so while states have their own definition of service dogs, they all must also follow the ADA” She said.
After proving this to the school, they did not argue with her and had let her professors know about her service dog. Therriensaid,
“Fun fact: Stonehill's page on service dogs states we are not required to tell them of our service dog, just that they would appreciate it. But they told me otherwise that they need to know about service dogs” She said.
Therrien believes people do not give emotional support dogs the credit they deserve. Service dogs get access to any place since they are trained to perform a task however, emotional support dogs are too. They provide comfort for someone without performing a task, but everyone says they must be able to perform a task to be considered a service dog and to go into public places. Therriensaid,
“In my mind, I think emotional support dogs should have similar rights to service dogs, however, not all of them. The emotional support dogs that I think should have similar rights to service dogs (i.e. Going to classes/movie theaters) are ones that are well trained. Some emotional support dogs are not well trained and unfortunately many times, they really are just a pet and people claim them as emotional support to get the housing. Emotional support dogs that are well trained though, in my opinion, are very similar to
service dogs” She said.
service dogs” She said.
It took 8 months for Therriento be approved for an emotional support dog. During those eight months, she contemplated dropping out and leaving the school for good. She said,
“It was frustrating as the school has their own policy for accepting emotional support animals. It's extremely frustrating when you research the laws and see how emotional support animals cannot be denied housing yet at Stonehill, if they don't think your documentation is good enough, they will not let you bring your emotional support animal” She said.
Therrien begged the school multiple times, telling them she needed this dog, or she was not going to be able to keep going. She was able to finally get her documentation through.
This topic is still a fresh conversation, and with more research and understanding, we might be able to put an end to the soft and cuddly controversy.
I love the video+article
ReplyDeleteCool story love the video
ReplyDeleteLoved your story, support animals are slept on
ReplyDeleteI love this topic and video was great!
ReplyDeletegreat article, especially love the video
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised emotional support animals aren't given the same rights as service animals.
ReplyDeleteLOVE THIS TOPIC!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've actually seen this dog around campus before! Really great article.
ReplyDeleteLove this article and the video! Emotional support animals are great.
ReplyDelete