Vermonters love pets; D.C. residents not quite so much

[cali]

It's raining cats and dogs in Vermont – but there is a bit of pet drought in Washington, D.C.

More than half of U.S. households have a pet, and a whopping 70.8 % of households in Vermont own a pet, according to a new study from the American Veterinary Medical Association. The study ranks states by pet ownership and reveals where approximately 70 million dogs and 74.1 million cats are completing families across the U.S.

The next top pet-owning states following Vermont are: New Mexico with 67.6%; South Dakota, 65.6%; Oregon, 63.6%; Maine, 62.9%; and Washington, 62.7%.

The tail end of the list: Washington, D.C., ranks last with 21.9% of households owning a pet. Also pet-starved are Massachusetts, 50.4%; New York, 50.6%; New Jersey, 50.7%; Utah, 51.2%; and Nebraska, 51.3%.

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/16/pet-ownership-state-veterinary/1839155/

[SharonAnn]

1. Urban living is not good for pet ownership. Renters often can't have pets.

[fizzgig]

3. it's getting harder and harder to find a place that accepts pets

and the ones who do accept them charge both a non-refundable fee of usually 250-300 per pet and monthly pet rent.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. +100

[Recursion]

2. I wonder how much of this in DC is rescues being absolutely unrealistic with adoption requirements

"We'd rather put this dog to sleep than adopt it out to a single person with a job."

[frazzled]

4. It's harder to own a pet in a large city

And even more so in cities where housing is tighter.

I'm a pet lover, and we always had dogs: we also always had a yard. Now I live in a condo in the city, and I'm older: much as I love dogs, I don't want to get in the elevator, go down six floors, and have to walk it 2 or 3 times a day in bad weather, and at night (though many of the people in our building do--mostly younger folk). We have a cat (not our choice: was left with us by our daughter), and even that involves having to find someone to watch her when we travel out of town.

I owned a Great Dane in a small New York City apartment when I was younger and crazier. But I wouldn't want to own a dog in DC.

So ... maybe this explains some of the issues in DC, New York, and New Jersey. I don't know what's up with Utah and Nebraska.

[DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav]

7. I have it from a good source that in Utah dogs are sometimes used as roof ornaments for cars.

[Auntie Bush]

8. Romney's car is the only one I know of and he's not from Utah.

[handmade34]

5. I am a Vermonter

who does not have a pet... and I hate the people that have dogs and think just because they live in a rural area they can let their dogs roam... my kids are runners and all have been bitten, chased, threatened, etc. numerous times on the backroads of Vermont. Often when confronted the pet owner will say something like "Oh, he is just playful, he would never bite..." I have no love or respect for these people...


and the same goes for cats... they kill too many of my song birds

It is not the animals I resent, it is the owner that does not take proper care of their pet.

[smirkymonkey]

9. When I lived in NYC, there were TONS of pets - that was one of the reasons I loved living

there so much. I always saw dogs on the street and their owners let people pet them and get friendly with them. It was such a community experience. In Boston, their aren't quite as many dogs, but their are still quite a few. I live for seeing them. They just make my day!

A lot of people don't think that it's right to have a dog in a city, but as long as they get exercise and attention, they are fine. Once they have those needs met, they just like to chill out and rest. I grew up in the country with large dogs and they were very sedentary once they had their exercise needs met for the day. They just wanted to eat, sleep and get pet.

Contrary to what most people think, dogs do not need to run all day long. As long as they get a good run and plenty of attention, they are generally pretty happy.