It’s official: Puppy petting is actually happening

Last month, UEA students were left disappointed not once, but twice, by fake Facebook events promising lovely puppy petting sessions on campus.

The scurrilous underhand tactics of untrustworthy so-called ‘event planners’ got people to confirm their attendance or register interest in the ‘events’, before changing the times, dates and names to things decidedly less furry- and spam people who had signed up for the doggos with irrelevant adverts instead.

The dirty dogs!

Almost as if to pre-empt the recent rise in fake news, UEA students were made fools of by fake floofs.

But, in the words of the great Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, UEA wouldn’t let it lie and uni has now stepped up and taken one for the team, putting on some legit puppers to ease the stress caused to students by the cancellation of previous events!

In a post yesterday on UEA’s official Facebook page, it was announced that on Sunday 12th March, there will be real dogs on the actual UEA campus. No date changes. No fuss. No bull- (surely dog?) -shit.

The puppy petting, taking place in the Hive, is just one event in uni’s Disabled Access Day, part of a string of similar days nationally, with demonstrations across campus aiming to show students and visitors what UEA is doing to make campus more accessible and welcoming to those with impairments. Interested participants can also visit the SportsPark to see what is being done there to encourage sport participation for all, take tours of campus to see accessible accommodation, utilise on-site discounts and listen to talks from UEA academics. More info is available here.

One UEA first year remarked: “after the farce that was the previous puppy petting event, I hope that uni come good on this one for the sake of those of us who were left disappointed last time.”

Dogs are being provided by Pets As Therapy (think about the acronym). Six dogs, including The Tab’s personal favourites Stella and Minty, are expected to offer twenty-minute slots of therapy throughout the day to up to two fans per slot, interspersed with regular rest-breaks for the working creatures.

The event is free but needs to be pre-booked, and also, you need to email the UEA Events team to book a specific slot of dog action. More information, and a link to the petting timetable and email address needed to register, can be found here.