Leaving home to attend a college or university often leads to big changes for a student. One of them can be leaving behind a pet cat, dog or other beloved animal. Kimberly Brubaker says she feels emotionally connected to her two pets: a cat named Dino, and a snake named Mars.

“İf an animal is part of your entire life, and caring for them is a huge part of it, to take that away is pretty dramatic,” she told the Associated Press. So when Brubaker left home to attend Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, she brought her pets with her. And college officials gave her permission to live with them in a school-owned dormitory.

İn the United States, Eckerd is not the only school to accept pets in student housing, but it may have been one of the first to do so. Since the early 1970s, the college has accepted many kinds of animals. Brubaker heads a student organization that registers on-campus pets. It makes sure the animals are well taken care of and that students follow Eckerd’s pet policies. And it tries to solve any disputes.

“We do pet checks once a month — we go around and knock on all the doors,” Brubaker said. The student group receives an average of one or two reports of a problem every month. But most issues are minor, such as misunderstandings of the rules governing pet registration.

Aliqismet BADALOV,
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