Crawling critters creep on campus
By Jon McDonald
From snakes to sugar gliders, a secret natural world exists in dorm rooms scattered all over campus, and pet owners wouldn't have it any other way.
Bentley is a sugar glider, a small marsupial native to the eastern coast of Australia.
"It's a chick magnet," Bentley's owner said, who, like others keeping pets illicitly, spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Every single girl that sees it always asks tons of questions."
But Bentley is more than a chick magnet, he's also an illegal resident at Santa Clara. Pets are prohibited in the residence halls for health and sanitation reasons, according to the Housing and Residential Life Community Handbook. Students can have fish, but only in a container of two gallons or less.
According to Scott Strawn, director of residence life, the rules are both for student safety and to make sure housing can deal with all of the students in the dorms.
"It's all about making the building a safe place for students to live," Strawn said.
He cited problems with allergies and differing levels of animal hygiene as potential concerns.
"Regardless of all of that, it's easier and more appropriate for us to manage the number of students we're managing without any pets at all. It's not like our staff is on pet patrol."
However, for some a pet is worth more than the threat of punishment.
"I think the rule is legitimate, but I don't care," Bentley's owner said. "I'm responsible enough to where it doesn't create any problems."
While Bentley may be the most exotic member of a teeming underground network of mammals, reptiles and assorted invertebrates, he is not alone as a closet companion.
Scout is a month-and-a half old black kitten who loves to play with loose shoelaces and explore his owner's dorm room.
His brother lives close by in another resident's dorm room. Scout's owner said that it was hard work to keep a pet in the dorms, dodging Residential Directors and finding extra time to take care of the cat.
"I'm coming back all the time to take care of him, but it's worth it," Scout's owner said.
Bentley lives in a closet, but often takes field trips nestled in the hood or pouch of his owner's sweatshirt.
"They're marsupials, so they like to be carried around," his owner said.
Unlike common pets, Bentley requires a special diet to stay healthy and keep his odor pleasant, sticking to a daily diet of fresh fruit, vegetables and nutrient pellets.
Bentley is also living under a double crux of disapproval. While sugar gliders can be kept in other states, California bans them as a danger to native wildlife: if Bentley were found by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, at the very least he would be exiled, but he could also be executed.
Scout and Bentley were both inherited from other residents who could no longer care for them.
Scout's original owner, who also kept a chinchilla, two rabbits and a hamster together in her room last year, said she was worried about the future of a campus job if Scout was discovered.
"I work on campus and I was worried I would get caught," she said. "I'd rather keep my job than keep the cat."
Ross French was not so lucky. The sophomore resident in Sanfilippo had a snake named Isis and a gecko named Prometheus living in his room until November.
But, after another resident complained, he had to turn them over to a reptile rescue organization.
"When I talked to the RD, he made it sound like I killed someone," said French. "He didn't know what to do with me because nobody had ever got caught."
In addition to getting rid of his pets, French had to pay a $50 fine, make an educational bulletin board for the dorm and write a letter of apology to the residents on his floor, "for thinking I was above the rules," French said.
French doesn't understand why his reptilian friends became an issue. "They don't make any noise, they don't have any allergens and they don't smell. They seem like the optimal pets."
While reptiles are hypo-allergenic, dead skin and protein shed from mammals can pose an allergenic risk to people, according to Dr. John Steven Kellogg from Allergy and Asthma in Adults and Children.
"In theory, any mammal can be a problem, whether they're cats, gerbils or hamsters," said Kellogg. "Cats have the strongest allergens."
Approximately two percent of Americans are allergic to cats and can have symptoms ranging from watery and itchy eyes or wheezing, to shortness of breath, chest tightness, rashes and itching.
While spaying and neutering cats can cut down on the allergy-causing protein found mainly in the skin and saliva of cats, there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic cat.
"If the rooms are carpeted, there can be residual cat allergen in there for months and even years," Kellogg said.
Peggy Robinson, clinic manager for Cowell Student Health Center, said she had never seen a pet allergy complaint at the clinic in her seven years with Cowell.
While student pets are illicit contraband, there are pets that live in the dorms without fear of discovery.
Duke is a German Shepherd, Labrador and Rottweiler mix, originally bred to be a narcotics dog for the Chicago police. He lives in Dunne with his owner Ellen Donlin, a resident minister.
Duke can look intimidating -- well-muscled, brown with black patches and standing at 70 pounds -- but he flunked out of police dog academy because he wasn't aggressive enough towards humans, according to Donlin.
While Donlin said no one has complained about allergies on her floor, some people did not warm up to Duke.
"There are definitely people who really don't like dogs," Donlin said.
Although Duke settled happily into a domestic life of bone chewing and belly scratches, his early training still remains.
On walks Duke will sometimes smell marijuana and perk up or want to investigate.
While the risks can be great -- fines, letters and the loss of a companion -- pet owners say it is worth it to keep their finely furred friends.
"It's nice to be able to have a pet in the dorms," Scout's owner said, before she added, "not that we are really supposed to."
Contact Jon McDonald at (408) 554-4546 or jmcdonald@scu.edu.