By Ashley Trovato//
An Emotional Support Animal is, according to the writers at anxiety.org, and The National Animal Registry, “an animal that, by its very presence, mitigates the emotional or psychological symptoms associated with a handler’s condition or disorder.”
At Hood College, students are allowed to have a hermit crab or goldfish. They are also permitted other animals, but have to go through the CAAR Center first.
Megan Poole, a senior at Hood College, recounts her experience in obtaining permission to bring a service animal on campus. “It was awful.” Megan said, “The process should not have been as hard as it was.”
Poole is diagnosed with PTSD, severe clinical depression/anxiety, and ADHD. She was permitted to have an animal last year, which was a guinea pig named Angel, and it took over a month to obtain permission. Since she stopped seeing a psychiatrist, residence life and CAAR took that privilege away.