Massachutians Don’t Love Our Pets According To Eye-Opening Research

Alright, Massachusetts pet owners, do you have a dog or cat? One of each? Several of each? Maybe you even have a pet bunny, bird, or fish? Most importantly, do you LOVE your pet/pets?

Ever since 2006, our country has celebrated National Pet Day on April 11th. I know that date is coming up quickly, but really, if you're a pet owner like myself then you know that every day is National Pet Day! Am I wrong?

Recently BetMassachusetts.com looked into each state's love of pets by the percentage of pet ownership. Surprisingly, Massachusetts did not rank very high and, in fact, ranked toward the bottom of the list.

The Bay State ranked 41st as a pet-loving state with 49% of Massachusetts' households reporting owning a pet. Almost half of the state's households own a pet or pets. That sounds pretty good to me but for comparison's sake,

Here are the top 10 Pet-Loving States along with each state's pet ownership percentage:

1. Wyoming - 71.8%
2. West Virginia - 71%
3. Idaho/Vermont - 70%
4. Vermont/Idaho - 70%
5. Indiana - 69.2%
6. Arkansas - 69%
7. Mississippi - 65.5%
8. Oklahoma - 65%
9. Kentucky - 64.1%
10. North Dakota - 63.7%

If you're sad that Massachusetts ranked so low, cheer up! Turns out that Massachusetts is #2 in the nation in terms of how much money residents spend on their dogs annually. Folks in the Commonwealth spend an average of $2,702.62 each year on our canine companions.

Only Delaware ranks higher annually, spending $2,864.49 on their dogs. And the best news of all for animal lovers is this: Pet ownership, in general, is on the rise across the nation and that's awesome news!

Take a look at the full rankings at BetMassachusetts' website here. Plenty of cool information to be found.