Many apartments near Kent State are pet friendly and allow students to bring their pets for a monthly fee. 

The majority of the apartments listed on the Kent State website allow pets, with the exception of University Townhomes, 345 Flats and Kent Park Homes. While the other apartments listed on the website allow pets, they have different requirements to meet before a pet can move in. For example, some apartments require a deposit or a monthly fee, such as University Oaks.

Additionally, some apartments have specifications that pets must meet to be eligibility to live there. For example, The Province only allows dogs weighing less than 50 pounds and Dartmouth Place only allows certain breeds of dogs.

It was hard for Audrey Seifert, a sophomore early childhood education major, to find an apartment to live in with her 50-pound dog, Koko.

“It was difficult finding an apartment because no one would accept a dog at her size,” Seifert said. “They wanted her to be under 25 pounds and she’s not.”

Travis Allasi, a sophomore psychology major, also had a difficult time searching for an apartment that would allow him to keep his dog, cat and crabs. 

“Some apartments will only let you have a cat that’s declawed. Some apartments won’t even let you have cats, but they’ll let you have dogs,” Allasi said. “Filter the apartments you’re looking at so that you can see what the dog rent is and the deposit for animals.”

After some searching, Seifert and Allasi both found apartments that would accommodate their animals. Now the challenge is taking care of their animals with a full college schedule. Both students have primarily online classes, so they spend the majority of their time doing schoolwork in their apartments.

In addition to Koko, Seifert also has a 10-week-old puppy named Bruno. Seifert often has “to separate them because I need to focus (in class) and they’re being too loud,” Seifert said. “They’re playing, they’re dogs, they’re supposed to, but sometimes I just need to separate them so that I can focus on my work.”

Allasi has similar problems with his dog, MoMo, and his cat, Maya: “They jump on our laptops and want to see what we’re doing and want our attention,” Allasi said.

Both students have different ways to combat their pets wanting attention during class hours. Seifert always makes sure to give herself breaks to spend time with her dogs to make sure they get the attention they need. Allasi has plenty of toys for all his animals so that they have things to keep them occupied while he’s in class. 

Above all else, both students recommend only getting a dog or cat when owners are willing to commit to spending time with them. Otherwise, students should consider getting a pet that requires less attention.

“I would suggest crabs or any type of semiaquatic animal that you don’t really need to attend to,” Allasi said. “You can still have a good connection and a good bond with these animals. I love these crabs. I would highly recommend crabs to any college student.”

Megan Becker is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].

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Hi, I’m Lauren Sasala, a senior journalism student from Toledo. I’m also the editor in chief of The Kent Stater and KentWired this semester. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important news about Kent State and the Kent community. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate.