Big pups on campus: stressed students indulge in dog therapy

Puppies invaded campus last Friday as Battersea Dogs Home brought us puppy therapy to de-stress deadline ridden RoHo students.

It’s the new cheer-up tactic sweeping the UK’s universities, and now it’s arrived at Holloway – and it’s proved pretty damn pup-ular.

‘Puppy therapy’ may sound like it belongs in a child’s play centre, but it’s being used to soothe stressed Roho students as deadlines loom.

And the visit was much needed – as the deadlines approach, RoHo students needed a break from all that beavering away in the library.

And it really was a paws for celebration as puppy therapy proved hugely popular. A queue of exhausted students desperate for some puppy love snaked from inside the Students Union all the way up the hill.

The event saw over 265 students come to pet the Battersea puppies and they weren’t being stingy –  voluntary donations came up to a whopping £50. One generous person even handed in a whole £10 note.

If you weren’t weakened by your five minutes petting the puppies than you definitely would’ve been by the two extremely fluffy pooches wolfing down some Domino’s pizza outside. And they ravished them faster than a student after a night at Liquid.

Pup of the day was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Saffy who is off to be homed with a new family – much to many students’  disappointment.

And the stunt definitely achieved the desired effect –  those having a ruff day came out beaming. Productivity levels are also thought to have soared in the past week.

Emily, a second year English student, told The Tab: “This has been the best day of the term by a mile. But I wish I could take one of the dogs home with me. Cuddling them has genuinely made me feel less stressed and I hope they come to visit again.”