UPDATE: GVSU says it OK'd student keeping guinea pig.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Battling a heart condition and severe depression, Grand Valley State University student Kendra Velzen takes such comfort from her pet guinea pig that her therapist formally prescribed an “emotional support animal.”

Two days after she moved into a single-occupancy efficiency unit at Calder Residences, GVSU officials said her guinea pig, Blanca, had to go. On-campus housing rules banned pets other than non-predatory fish.

Now, Velzen, a 28-year-old Grand Rapids woman, and Fair Housing Center of West Michigan, have filed a federal lawsuit against GVSU, its Board of Regents and four administrators who allegedly refused to allow the animal to live with her.

University officials said only service dogs for those with physical disabilities are allowed, the lawsuit said.

Attorney Stephen Dane of Ohio said the university should have made an accommodation for Velzen because she is disabled under the Fair Housing Act.

“People truly do get medical benefits, and psychological benefits, out of emotional support animals,” he said by telephone.

GVSU officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

E-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/grpressagar