The Second Chance Animal Care Scholarship Program

Stephens College Offers Scholarship for Fostering Pets

Here is a video on the above article!

Also, one student writes about the benefits of having pets in her dorm. 
Please check out Living at a Pet Friendly College: The Stephens Pet Program

Students Foster Pets at Stephens College

Stephens College effort lets students foster pets 


The article linked to above discusses how students receive all necessary supplies for their foster pet, and they receive a scholarship. What a great way to free up space at Columbia Second Chance animal rescue and provide students with companionship. 

Here is a video (about 2 minutes) on the program:
Animals find a second chance at Stephens College

Pet Central

Here's another video on Stephens College's Pet Central. I especially like the fenced in area outside the dorm so dogs can run around. There is also a doggy daycare complete with a bathtub for pets.  Students can drop off their pet here when they go to class. The students who work at doggy daycare are part of the work/study program.  With this arrangement, even students who don't have a dog on campus can get a chance to interact with them, and the dogs get extra socialization. It's a win-win situation.

More on Stephens College

This is great! The animal rescue Columbia Second Chance works with Stephens College to allow students to foster a pet. They provide vet care and food and will take the pet during breaks. Check out Pet Central for more information.

It's also mentioned in an article by the Columbia Daily Tribune, Foster Program Offers Benefits to Pets and Potential Adopters.

And there's a clip from the Today show on Pet Central in this blog post, Dogs in College: A Closer Look.

Foster Dog Dorms--Update 2

Thanks to my friend Jessi VanPelt for sharing this article titled Make Me Do It! on her facebook wall. It points out the benefits when fosters help adopt out the pets they are fostering or, in otherwords, they serve as adoption agents (see the article On the Fast Track to More Adoptions). When this was done by the Louisiana SPCA it resulted in increased numbers of first time shelter adopters and a zero rate of return of fostered pets.

Also, here is another article (titled Pets take the bite out of dorm life) which describes the benefits of having pets in dorms. These include making it easier to adjust to college and less stress for students.

Fundraising idea: Paper Retriever Recycling

An additional way to raise funds would be via the Paper Retriever. The students could use it to recycle their college newspaper. According to the website, for the Orlando area they can also take magazines as well as school paper. They can recycle paperback books, so any paperback books that are weeded from the campus library, bookstore, and used bookstore can go into the paper retriever.

We could even market it in a humorous way. "Think you know all the dog breeds? Have you heard about the Paper Retriever?"

Foster Dog Dorms--Update 1

This is so exciting! Stephens College has allowed foster dogs in dorms.  This is the Q and A part of an article by Jacques Steinburg titled Colleges Extend the Welcome Mat to Students' Pets.  I wonder if I can contact Deb Duran, student services vice president of Stephens College, and see how this idea was implemented at the college.

Regarding foster dog dorms, if a humane society is located on or just next to a campus, I see the benefits as being even greater.  The "Freshman 15" might be reduced if students could volunteer to walk dogs in a dog park on campus. For students concerned about the university going to the dogs, this could be one of many designated spots for dogs and volunteers would be expected to clean up after their dogs.

And, ah, here's a neat article titled Exploring the Health Benefits of Pets.

This would allow students to try out fostering, maybe for a weekend, and be able to easily bring the dog back to the humane society if it doesn't work.  For foster dog dorms to be successful, it can't be a nuisance or impede with students' studying.  Also, fostering should be a rewarding experience, and having the close partnership of a humane society will help.

If there was an elementary school near the campus, elementary students could get involved as well with the humane society. They can get tours from college volunteers and learn about responsible pet ownership. They can learn what to do if they're out walking and see a strange dog.  A class could "adopt" a foster dog in the humane society by helping raise donations for it so it gets a nice bed or new collar and lead. They could get pictures of the dog to keep in the classroom.