States with highest, lowest pet ownership

The American Veterinary Medical Association recently released its U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook.

By Vetstreet Jan 21, 2013 6:30PM

Residents of Vermont are the most likely to have pets, according to a new survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Washington, D.C., a territory, had the smallest percentage of pet owners.

Although the survey didn’t collect information on why some states had higher rates of pet ownership, the findings indicate the type of dwelling — rural vs. urban — played a role, a spokesman said.

The top 10 pet-owning states are:

Vermont 70.8 percent of households owned a pet

New Mexico 67.6 percent

South Dakota 65.6 percent

Oregon 63.6 percent

Maine 62.9 percent

Washington 62.7 percent

Arkansas 62.4 percent

West Virginia 62.1 percent

Idaho 62 percent

Wyoming 61.8 percent

The 10 states in 2011 with the lowest percentage of pet-owning households are:

Rhode Island 53 percent

Minnesota 53 percent

California 52.9 percent

Maryland 52.3 percent

Illinois 51.8 percent

Nebraska 51.3 percent

Utah 51.2 percent

New Jersey 50.7 percent

New York 50.6 percent

Massachusetts 50.4 percent.

The District of Columbia had a far lower rate of pet ownership at 21.9 percent.

The report also looks at the health of pets across the country.

“Unfortunately, the report reveals that fewer dogs and cats are seeing the veterinarian regularly, and that’s something that the AVMA and every companion animal veterinarian are concerned about," said Dr. Douglas G. Aspros, president of the AVMA. "Pet owners across the country need to remember to bring their pets into the veterinarian – at least once a year – to maintain optimal health.”

The AVMA is one of the oldest and largest veterinary medical organizations in the world.

Source: AVMA

Bing: Most popular pets.

— Read it at ABC News

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24Comments

Newest

Jan 21, 2013 9:40PM

Ummm, Washington D.C. is not a territory. It's citizens, however, do not have congressional representation....hence, the motto on its vehicle license plates...Taxation Without Representation.

Previous replies

Someone (ab55)

Jan 21, 2013 9:34PM

I admit I am one of those pet owners that cannot afford to take their dog to the vet. I do get her rabies & distemper shots @ petco. When she is not feeling well we do home remendies. She is 12 years old & never has been sick maybe 2 cases of diaraha in 12 yrs.

Now she is just getting older, getting fatty moles on her, but we also do home remendies to get rid of them. We shave around it get hair off, clean it w/ proxide, dry & change the duct tape once a week, its takes a couple of months to get rid of, but they do go away. When it is practially gone I start to us neosporin on it.

I think there needs to be some type of control over the Vet charges, so we can keep our pets healthy. My last 2 dogs lived to old age & rarely sick at all, really nothing to take her to the vet, we are really, really lucky.

With price control the vet's will start seeing alot more patients its as simple as that, case by case. We did have a pet one time that came down with diabetes, I took her to my regular vet he told me 1200.00 to get it under control and kept her for about 5 days. I was going to have my dog put to sleep, there was just know way I could affort that. So I got on the phone called quite a few vets in my area explaining I cannot afford it I could not stop crying, one Vet told me to come right in he kept her 2 nights & started her on insulin & only charged me 150.00 & allowed me to make payments no interest. How nice is that a Vet that truly cares about the animal's welfare. I did use this Vet for many years later until he moved out of the area.