Canine Rental on Campus

Bringing dogs to college campuses during finals is a great idea -- dogs are known stress relievers, finals are known stress inducers. But nothing ruins a perfectly good idea like a puppy rental company. I thought the whole pet rental concept was generally frowned upon, but apparently there's a distinction between renting animals as if they were movies and renting animals as if they were inflatable moonwalks. And what sort of breeder would give their puppies to a party rental company?

Hey, College Event Organizers: Don't support irresponsible breeders and puppy mills, or the promotion of pets as temporary, disposable objects. Instead, bring certified therapy dogs on campus like University of San Diego or University of Pittsburgh, or talk to your counseling office about bringing in friendly staff dogs like University of Wisconsin-Madison. You can also try contacting your local humane society to see if they're interested in a partnership that would give shelter dogs a field trip and students a lesson in how amazing rescued dogs are. They might even be able to provide puppies, if that's what your heart is set on (though you're missing out if you ignore the older mixed breeds!).

This way, you can have your stress relief and your values, too. So study up!

Photo credit: UC San Diego/Lester Cacho