Barragan-Santana also supports a policy that would allow certain types of animals.

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to have fish,” she says.

The hamster owner says he resents the fact that tutors in his House can officially keep pets, while he must hide his hamster: During winter break, he left her in her cage under his bed, along with his contraband microwave.

“They’re only three or four years older than us,” he says. “It doesn’t seem like a very fair rule.”

Nitze insists that his chinchillas were well-treated in his dorm room. “They were really clean. We took care of them—they were living in real style.”

Yet that did not sway House staff’s demand that the animals go, he says. “Without asking any questions, they made us get rid of the chinchillas.”

—Stephanie B. Garlock contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Julie M. Zauzmer can be reached at jzauzmer@college.harvard.edu.