How Devoted Are Maryland Residents To Pet Ownership?

Fact Checked by Jim Tomlin

There seems to be a special “day” for just about everyone and everything so it’s no surprise that there is a National Pet Day, and it’s April 11.

With that thought in mind, BetMaryland.com looked into which states have the most affinity for pet ownership with the definition of “pet” narrowed to dogs and cats (sorry, all of you reptile, rodent and fish owners).

We used data from the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook to calculate which states had the highest percentage of pet ownership. Relying on survey responses, it turns out that Maryland ranks fairly deep on the list of the lower 48 U.S. states (data from Hawaii and Alaska was limited).

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Total Pet Ownership By State

RankState% of Pet Ownership
1Wyoming71.8
2West Virginia71
3Idaho70
4Vermont70
5Indiana69.2
6Arkansas69
7Mississippi65.5
8Oklahoma65
9Kentucky64.1
10North Dakota63.7
11Maine63.5
12Missouri63.5
13Washington63
14Kansas62.8
15Michigan62.4
16Ohio62.4
17Montana62
18South Carolina62
19Tennessee61.7
20Pennsylvania60.6
21New Mexico60
22Alabama59.8
23Oregon59.2
24Iowa59
25North Carolina59
26Wisconsin59
27Utah58.5
28Texas58.2
29Arizona58
30Delaware57.9
31Florida56
32Virginia55.5
33Louisiana54
34Minnesota54
35Nevada53
36New Hampshire52
37Nebraska51.3
38Georgia51
39Connecticut50
40New York50
41Massachusetts49
42Illinois48.6
43Maryland48.6
44New Jersey47.4
45Colorado47.2
46South Dakota46
47Rhode Island45.4
48California40.1
49*Alaska0
50*Hawaii0

Maryland Low In Pet Ownership Rankings

Among Marylanders, only 48.6% of respondents in a survey said they owned either a dog or a cat, making the state’s ranking No. 43 on a list of 48 states. Breaking it down further, dogs led over cats in the survey, 30.2% to 18.6%.

There was no word on a specific breed favored by Marylanders, but the state dog is the Chesapeake Bay Retriever. And sports fans may recall that when the No. 16 seed Maryland-Baltimore County men’s basketball squad beat No. 1 seed Virginia in the NCAA Tournament in 2018, it had the school’s mascot name, Retrievers, boldly emblazoned on their yellow jerseys.

For those wondering about the state feline, that would be a Calico cat. At least one version of why that came to be is that the coloring of the black-orange-and-white Calico – which is really not a breed -- resembles the Baltimore Oriole bird. By further extension, those are the team colors of the Major League Baseball Orioles, a local favorite with Maryland sportsbook apps.

Top And Bottom Pet-Owning States

As far as more enthusiastic pet-owning states are concerned, the survey placed Wyoming at No. 1 with 71.8% of that state’s respondents saying they were pet owners. The rest of the Top 10 pet-owning states were:  West Virginia, Idaho, Vermont, Indiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and North Dakota.

Trailing Maryland at the bottom of the pet ownership list, from No. 44 through No. 48, were New Jersey, Colorado, South Dakota, Rhode Island, and last was California with pet ownership of 40.1%.

For all of the best Maryland sports betting promo codes, stick with us at BetMaryland, where you’ll also find sports analysis, industry coverage and lifestyle articles like this one.

Author

Bill Ordine

A longtime reporter and editor who began writing on casinos and gaming shortly after Atlantic City’s first gambling halls opened, Bill covered the World Series of Poker and wrote a syndicated column on travel to casino destinations for a decade.

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