Living in a College Town

Do you like being woken up at 4 AM on a weekday by people splashing and yelling in the apartment pool? That’s the joy of living in a college town.

As I was heading out one morning, I found a note left on everyone’s door. It was the second reminder that month that tenants please clean up after their animals. This was just a glimpse of the problem of college students and their pets, or emotional support animals. Despite “little evidence that emotional support animals are effective,” there’s been a 1400% increase in support animals in a single year at some schools. [1]

One time when I went out for groceries, I got distracted by a blue-haired woman’s support dog that was shitting in the middle of the store. The lady turned around, and kind of snickered. She did not let the poor animal finish, nor did she attempt to clean the mess. Instead, she yanked the leash, dragging the dog around as it shit everywhere. I told the store manager, to which he responded, “What do you want me to do about it?”

According to his LinkedIn profile, he graduated from my school with a degree in Business Administration. Of course he did.

---

[1] A. Johnson, "Number of emotional support animals at Yale increased by 1400% in last year," 15 May 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.thecollegefix.com/number-of-emotional-support-animals-at-yale-increased-by-1400-in-last-year/.