Animals on campus provide service and support to their owners
They can be seen all over campus. Walking to class, sitting in lecture halls, studying on the Quad. Service animals of all kinds help students at Utah State University get their education.
Service animals come in three varieties — service, emotional support and therapy. They all help and have a close relationship with their owner.
Jake Turner, a junior at USU has been working with his service dog, Winter, for almost a year now. Winter and Turner work as a team. Turner has no natural sense of balance and Winter serves as a counterbalance.
“I began looking for a service animal over the summer. We found Winter who had already had some training, but she was with a family that couldn’t take care of her anymore. She was 16 months at the time and best qualified to be my service animal,” Turner said.
A day for Winter and Jake starts off with a morning routine. Winter has to pass a series of commands to be able to work for the day.
“The morning routine involves basic commands like sit and lay down,” Turner said. “It shows she’s listening to my commands and paying attention to me.”
Once Winter passes, she attends all classes on campus with Turner. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, service animals are allowed to be with their owners in all public places. This is one characteristic that sets a service animal apart from other types of working animals.
“Not knowing what it is like to be a parent, she feels like my child. She thinks she can protect me. She is my world right now,” Turner said.
When Winter is on campus with Turner, she is working. She wears a service animal vest and is by Turner’s side at all times.
When service dogs are working it is best not to acknowledge them or pet them, Turner said. It can distract them from the task at hand. Students who want to pet a service animal should first ask its owner for permission, and make sure it is not currently performing a task or wearing its vest.
“One of the things people need to realize is if they are wearing their vest, they are not to be messed with. She is trained not to react,” Turner said.
When Winter isn’t performing a service for Turner they can be seen out on the quad playing fetch or hanging out in his dorm.
Rilee Scoresby Jake Turner and his service dog, Winter
“She runs after the ball but then she just stares at it waiting for it to move agan. She doesn’t like bringing it back, but she sure likes running after it,” Tuner said.
Just like any other dog, Winter takes some time to get some exercise and relax. By taking care of Winter, Jake gets a lot of love and service in return.
“She helps me get around and that means a lot to me. She helps make up for the abilities that I lack,” Turner said.
Hillary Place, a cultural anthropology major, spends her days with her emotional support cat, Luna. Place received Luna last february after her first semester at Utah State.
“I was having a difficult time adjusting to college. It was affecting my school work and quality of life,” Place said.
Place’s doctor suggested getting a emotional support animal to help ease her stress. Place and her husband went through the paperwork process and got approved to find a pet.
“I’ve had cats my whole life so that is what I was most comfortable with. We saw Luna in the window and the rest is history. She is the sweetest cat you will ever meet,” Place said.
Rather than fulfilling a physical service for Place, Luna provides comfort and a way to decompress. A emotional support animal’s main job is to provide emotional support and provide a relationship to their owner. They do not accompany their owner to all their classes, but instead wait at home to assist them.
“Having Luna is nice because you have a unconditional love and support system,” Place said. “It encourages me to get up in the morning to feed her and play with her. I have a responsibility to take care of her and she takes care of me.”
Therapy animals are another type of animal that help humans. A example of therapy animals on campus can be found when they are brought into the Merrill-Cazier library to help students destress. A therapy animal’s main goal is to be able to tolerate public places and large groups of people while also providing emotional comfort to people.
Therapy Animals of Utah is a nonprofit organization that works to spread awareness about therapy animals, provide training for these animals and connect them to groups of people.
The classification between service, emotional and support animals can become blurred.
Deborah Carr, executive director of TAU, wrote, “There is no real licensing process for emotional-support animals or service animals, even though they are protected by law in their respective areas. Therapy animals also have very different kinds of training and registration processes, depending on what organization supports them. Probably the best way for public facilities to protect the public as well as ensure humane treatment of animals is to put in place intelligent policies and procedures, based on latest research.”
There can be a certain stigma associated with the use of animals on college campus. A lot of allegations of rule-bending and false paperwork can be found, Place said.
“It’s a fairly simple process to obtain a animal on campus. Because it is so simple people abuse it. That makes it harder for people who have diagnosed conditions to get the support that they actually need,” Place said.
Place said students should talk with a doctor before getting a service animal.
“I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I’m selfish for having Luna or that I need to grow up. I don’t have to justify my mental illness to you,” she said. “This is how I have chosen deal with it and how she helps me.”
—shelby.black@aggiemail.usu.edu
@shelbsterblack