Despite apartment leasing agreements limiting the possession of pets, UCF students continue to keep animals.

Reasons that students own animals

Many students own cats for companionship. Sophomore finance major Christopher Gustafson said, “It’s nice to have somebody around when no one else is there.”

Geoff Stenger, a senior marketing major, disagreed with Gustafson. “Cats are a waste of space,” Stenger said. “You spend all this money and they don’t come to you when you call them. All they want is attention.”

Stenger, who lives in a house, prefers the company of his dog. Stenger said: “Dogs are happy to see you. If they’re well behaved, they listen and do what you tell them to do, and they have the ability to exhibit their own personality.”

An added responsibility

Although a pet may have rewarding qualities, they can also be a big responsibility. “Having a pet is almost like having a child,” Stenger said. “It’s going to take a lot more of your time and money. I don’t feel that someone should have a pet unless they’re willing to put the time and effort into raising it properly. A lot of people neglect their pets.”

The stench

Many students said they don’t own pets because they don’t like the smell. Matt Zorn, a sophomore

television/radio major, said: “We had a dog in our fraternity house, which is off-campus. The owner of the dog never cleaned up after it and it wasn’t housebroken. The dog smelled horrible, so we had to spray it with Lysol and Febreeze all the time. Eventually we found a loving home for it...somewhere else.”

Senior interpersonal communications major Jon Melton commented that although he’s glad he has his pet ferret, “it smells really bad.”

“One girl kept a hamster in her bathroom and it stank up the whole apartment so much that her roommates complained,” said Shirley Enriquez, who works at the front desk at University Club.

On-campus housing at UCF only allows residents to keep fish, and they must be kept in a tank under ten gallons. Melton said, “Fish are the best kind of pet anyway, because it’s not that sad when they die, and they're the easiest to get rid of. You can’t really flush a cat!”

Apartment enforcement

Many area apartment complexes have strict rules enforcing their ‘No pets’ policy. Apartments such as Boardwalk, The Gatherings and Collegiate Village Inn give a notice informing the resident that they have 7 days to get rid of the animal, or they will be evicted.

Some apartments fine their residents immediately. College Park fines residents $100 the first time they discover a pet, $200 the second time and the managers evict the resident if a third offense occurs.

University Club fines residents $150 the first time, and $10 for each additional day that they continue to keep the animal in the apartment.

The apartments’ maintenance staff, roommates or neighbors usually report the animals. “One dog ran out and attacked a maintenance guy,” said Enriquez. “It turned out we had people raising pit bulls here. They just tore up the whole apartment.”

An unusual twist

Tiffanye Castro, director of marketing and advertising for Collegiate Village Inn, told of a particularly memorable incident at the CVI apartments. Castro said: “This guy was keeping a dog on the second floor, and he would let it go the bathroom upstairs and then just throw the ‘fecalmaterial’ into the parking lot where people keep their cars. The housekeepers saw it, and he got evicted.”

Going to extremes

Some students take extreme measures to keep their pets concealed from complexes that don’t allow them. Sophomore business management major Crystal Petti lived in College Suites and managed to keep her dog, a miniature pincher, hidden for six months. “She couldn’t go out because they’d see her, so I had her littler-box trained,” Petti said. “I took her out to Blanchard Park every day in a suitcase, and I’d let her out of the bag as soon as we were past the College Suites gate...but it was totally worth it!”

Petti said that she thinks students are most likely to get caught with pets near the beginning or end of a lease agreement, because the maintenance people are more likely to come into the apartments. “There are so many animals in College Suites,” said Petti.

Unusual animals as pets

Some students prefer pets of the ‘non-traditional’ variety. Junior public relations major Megan Fox, who works in the front office at Boardwalk, talked about the discovery of a pet prairie dog. “One of our maintenance people alerted us that there was a ‘very unusual animal’ in a certain apartment, so I went and took a look at it...and I had to ask the owner what it was!”

John, who did not want his full name used in publication, works in the office at College Park and told of another unusual animal: “Someone moved out and we went in the apartment to do a maintenance check, and sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor was a big 2 1/2 foot iguana. The maintenance guy wanted to keep it, but the person actually came back for it a few days later.”

Paying extra for pets

Jefferson Arbour allows pets, but they charge a $300 deposit for pets 50 pounds and under, and a $500 deposit for pets over 50 pounds. Both charges are partially refundable at the end of a lease. There is no charge for rodents or reptiles, and pot-bellied pigs are the only animals that are not allowed.

Gustafson said his apartment complex, The Harbour in Casselberry, allows pets. Summit apartments, on Metro West Blvd., also allow residents to keep pets.