As a result of the pandemic, pet adoption rates have skyrocketed, increasing by nearly 90% in some cities.
Since so many Americans are also looking to move to a new home this year, the SafeWise team thought this was a perfect time to release their annual report ranking the best and worst states for pet owners.
How we ranked the pet-friendly states
When it comes to pet-friendly states, we wanted to point out places where you and your pet will find a strong community with proper measures to protect animals.
We ranked states on the following:
Percentage of pet-friendly apartments (30%)1
Pet population (20%)2
Pets-left-in-car laws (10%)3
Veterinary reporting requirement laws (10%)4
Tether laws (10%)5
Anti-cruelty laws (15%)6,7
Animal fighting paraphernalia laws (5%)8
Note: We omitted Alaska and Hawaii because not all data points were available. See our animal ranking-factor or law overview sections for more information.
We just wanted to give a shout out to the ASPCA which has been on the front lines for rescue and relocation of pets during these turbulent times.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®) was the first humane society to be established in North America and is, today, one of the largest in the world.
The organization was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans and must be protected under the law. Headquartered in New York City, the ASPCA maintains a strong local presence, and with programs that extend their anti-cruelty mission across the country, they are recognized as a national animal welfare organization. They are a privately funded 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, and are proud to boast more than 2 million supporters across the country.
The ASPCA’s mission, as stated by founder Henry Bergh in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.”
This amazing organization offers a range of efforts --
Saving Lives
No matter the location or scale of the deployment, the ASPCA is prepared to take on animal cruelty cases when needed—from initial investigations to the final placement of rescued animals in homes.
Increase Adoption
The ASPCA takes every possible action to increase the probability of adoption for homeless animals across the country.
Keeping Them Safe
The ASPCA’s efforts to protect animals span from federal laws to local courts to community engagement. We’re helping to prevent harmful situations for animals and to take action when they occur.
We post this as a resource for pets and pet owners:
May is National Pet Month, and it is important to recognize the large intersection of domestic violence and animal abuse, as nearly half of domestic violence will not leave their pet behind. Children especially can be traumatized by leaving an animal behind because they have witnessed the threats or harm to their beloved pets. We’ve also seen a huge therapeutic value and positive health outcomes that pets have in healing including lower blood pressure and reduced anxiety.
In recent weeks, the media has raised many concerns for pet owners and the ability for animals to contract and pass on the Coronavirus. Additionally, the added stress of the pandemic are known triggers for abuse of pets, partners, and children.
Urban Resource Institute is the largest provider of domestic violence shelter and services in the US based out in NYC, and one of 3% of shelters in the country that provides pet-friendly domestic violence shelters. The People and Animals Living Safely (PALS) program was launched in 2013 and has since expanded to seven shelters throughout New York City, providing a place for survivors and their pets to live and heal together in the same apartment. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, PALS has accepted their 300th pet.
URI created the program in order to break down this barrier that victims face in escaping abuse, and highlight the intense role that pets play in domestic violence that is so often overlooked.
From African elephant watering holes to American National parks, enjoy these wonderful live cams and get back to nature at a safe distance. Explore.org offers wonderful experiences.
Nest with North America's largest species of owl! This live camera in Montana's Mission Valley is mounted opposite a hollowed tree snag where a great gray owl raises her chicks. It's believed the owl mom and her mate have nested here for the past three years.
This densely forested area borders a mostly open field, ideal for Great Gray Owls to hunt their prey. The forest has small creeks running through it and is a major wildlife corridor for the Mission Mountains with deer, birds, and even Grizzly bears traveling through this area.
This snag nest, though much smaller than the Western Montana Nest Cam, is not atypical for Great Grays. She fits like a glove.
We've named this location "Jim's Place" as tribute to the live cam host who unexpectedly passed away during the camera's install.
For more than 25 years, the Owl Research Institute (ORI) has been dedicated to scientific research of owls — their ecology, natural history, and habitat relationships.
Because owls are chronically under-researched and poorly understood, we strive to provide high-quality, long-term studies of owls, and use our findings to promote conservation.
The Owl Research Institute is a non-profit, 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization, and primarily funded by grants from foundations, corporations, and individuals.
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Where is the owl's nest? Great Gray Owls often lay their eggs in a broken tree top called a "snag." Other common locations for egg laying include man-made structures or the abandon nests of other large birds such as ravens or raptors.
Great Grays will almost always choose their nest site in an area adjacent to a clearing in a forest or another open area, such as a meadow or field.
How many eggs do Great Grays lay? The clutch usually consists of 2 to 5 eggs. Each egg is about 2 inches in length and will be incubated anywhere from 28 to 36 days before hatching.
When and how do Great Grays hunt? Like most owls, Great Grays are most active between dusk to dawn. Their excellent hearing is their most resourceful tool used in hunting. Great Grays have asymmetrical ear canals which allows them to triangulate the location of their prey. The owl will silently glide above the forest floor, listening for rodents such as mice and voles below, and then swoop down and snatch the rodent with their sharp talons.
Do Great Gray Owls migrate? Great Grays do move around to different hunting areas throughout the year; however, their movement isn't viewed as migrational, but instead is viewed as "nomadic." They change locations due to their supply of food, not due to the seasons like most other birds. If a habitat is able to sustain them with a constant food supply, then Great Grays will stay in that area. If their hunting has depleted the supply of rodents, then the owl will move on to find a new hunting area.
Are Great Gray Owls endangered? In some areas, mainly near human populations, Great Grays are endangered. Loss of habitat due to logging is one of the greatest threats the species. When forested areas are clear cut, the availability of snags for nesting is greatly diminished.
If you're a hawk who's planning to crash into a window, One Police Plaza in Manhattan is not the worst place to do it. Officers from the elite NYPD Special Operations Emergency Service Unit were quickly on the scene April 14 to pick up this juvenile red-tailed hawk, who was stranded on a traffic median by an injured wing.
At the Wild Bird Fund, our team determined that the hawk, now named Rex, had a fractured ulna in his left wing. They not only splinted the wing, but they gave him a stylish matching splint wrap, which he quickly began to dismantle.
"I know. I'm the big bad man," Det. Joseph Bucchignano told the hawk before he calmly placed his hands around each wing and put the bird in a carrier. He knew to approach from behind, contain the wings and keep those taloned feet under control. His skill was no accident. Last summer, Det. Bucchignano worked with us to organize an animal handling course for his colleagues. A group of ESU officers gathered in our small lobby to learn how to handle raptors, herons and other dangerous birds, with a dual goal: to protect both the birds and the officers.
Director Rita McMahon taught the course, while animal care manager Pepe Hernandez demonstrated. One hapless Canada goose "agreed" to play raptor, and he was picked up, put down, picked up, put down... Suffice to say, this goose did not leave us a great review on Welp* (Wildlife Yelp). Rex has recovered well! To keep the wing from getting stiff, Rita and animal care manager Galicia Outes sedated him and gently exercised his wing — by holding the bone that was fractured so it wouldn't move while flexing the joint to restore the range of motion. He'll need flight conditioning in an outdoor cage before release, and that's where our partners at The Raptor Trust come in.
We are so grateful to the NYPD! They have been our informal partners in wildlife rescue for many years, and we intend to continue these training sessions once the lockdown ends. Our commitment to wildlife does not begin or end at our front door. Whenever possible, we work to protect animals before they reach us. A large part of that work is education — of rescuers, community members and local schoolkids. And how about our incredible Wild Bird Fund team?
Rita McMahon is the Founder of the Wild Bird Fund, located in New York City.
The Wild Bord Fund is a one of kind organization dedicated to, as their website says, providing medical care and rehabilitation to native and passing migrant wildlife so that they can be released back into the wild. And to educate New Yorkers about the rich diversity of the city’s wildlife and how to help it thrive.
But that description is not totally complete. The center also rescues and rehabilitates domestic birds like the small family of ducklings and teh two chicken escapees from slaughterhouses who I saw when I recently visited. They also rescue bats and turtles. (A snapping turtle, who arrived by subway, is available for adoption...) Their services are especially needed now when climate change and over building is destroying wildlife. Rita McMahon, founder and director of the WBF has dedicated that past decade of her life establishing the center and expanding its services. The WBF will soon expand into Brooklyn and the Bronx as well.
Today, during the pandemic, Rita and the Fund are faced with an almost overwhelming challenge. She says, "The WBF is deemed an essential business by the Governor and the city. So we re open every day. Much reduced staff, no volunteers, no visitors, no reception and people who bring in birds in need of help hand them over outside the door. The number of birds is a little less than last year, but the donations are nowhere near the same. Thank you for helping us continue."
She adds, "I am including a picture of Groucho the screech owl perch on my desk chair. He is my late night companion, sleeps under my desk during the day."
We do not charge for our services, but a donation would be appreciated. Your generous donations allow us to continue our important work.Please help WBF keep NYC wild.
Walking the dog has been a popular diversion for many enduring coronavirus quarantine, with pets playing an important role in helping humans get through this difficult time. Shelter-in-place orders around the country have even created a surge in demand for pets to provide both companionship and comfort.
"There is now a huge interest in fostering dogs and cats," said Tracy Elliott, president of the Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society. "We have hundreds and hundreds of people waiting." Elliott said the society also experienced a run on adoptions before it had to close its buildings.
Elliott points to the numbers. Normally the society might have around 100 dogs in foster care on any given day, but now 214 are being fostered. And their kennel no longer has nearly enough animals to meet demand.
The same story can be found across the U.S.
"We saw a nearly 70 percent increase in animals going into foster care through our NYC and Los Angeles foster programs, compared to the same time period in 2019," the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said in a statement provided to ABC News. "In addition, since March 15, more than 600 people completed online foster applications for our New York City and Los Angeles foster programs, representing a 200 percent increase when compared to traditional application numbers during this period."
Jim Tedford, the CEO of the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement, a professional organization for public and private animal shelters, said he's heard about shelters being "relatively emptied out," because so many people have volunteered to foster or adopt pets.
"I've heard from a number of shelters who actually say they've got a backlog of up to a thousand volunteer foster homes on a list, waiting for animals to take care of," Tedford said.
The "need" element works both ways: More and more animals need caretakers as shelter workers are forced to stay home, so shelters reached out to their respective communities for volunteers to foster and adopt those pets.
But the animals are giving back just as much, fulfilling human needs amplified by social distancing.
According to the AARP, a little more than half of all Americans age 50 to 80 have pets. "The rest don't know what theya re missing," according to the University of Michigan National poll on Healthy Aging sponsored by the AARP and Michigan Medicine.
About 55% of the roughly 2000 people surveyed said that they do have a pet. When asked what benefits they receive, they said pet ownership helps them:
Already a best seller on Amazon, The Dog Lady of Mexico: A Heartwarming Journey into Animal Rescue transforms Alison Sawyer Current's heroic, real-life efforts to save the neglected and starving dogs and cats of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, into an inspiring and moving story. Alison founded the nonprofit Isla Animals as a means of offering spay/neuter clinics, low-to-no cost veterinary services, owner education, and so much more to help the plight of these poor animals.
Alison comes alive on the pages of The Dog Lady as Rose, whose dream of moving to a tropical island and working as a potter soon changes when she discovers her new island home is overrun with starving dogs and cats. That was 18 years ago, and in that time over 12,000 animals have been spayed or neutered, and thousands of neglected and starving dogs have been rescued off the streets. But Alison doesn't stop there; she finds new, loving homes for many of these dogs throughout the US, Mexico and Canada.
Rose's lifelong dream was to move with her husband and her pottery studio to a Caribbean island, enjoying her morning coffee on the beach and taking her ocean-inspired ideas back to her studio. Her husband would make use of the skills he honed in restaurants in a more laid-back, ocean-side setting. Isla Mujeres, a little island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, seemed to fit the bill. But, oh, were they in for a surprise.
What they encountered after their move was an island overrun with starving, neglected and abused dogs and cats—unsterilized, unwanted animals that wander the streets and are considered a threat to the community's health. Their unchecked breeding brought more and more puppies into a world where they'd be destined for the same miserable life. Rose couldn't sit by and watch, and soon started helping in whatever way she could.
Rose's experiences reflect the real-life journey of author Alison Sawyer Current, who began rescuing in 2001. Her valiant efforts to help dogs and cats grew into the nonprofit Isla Animals, which offers low-to-no cost veterinary care, arranges adoptions, and runs owner education to help whittle the number of animals destined for the same existence.
The problems Alison encountered were numerous. There are no veterinarians in the area so most of the animals are never vaccinated or treated for parasites. The average dog is thin, mangy, and tick and flea infested. Needless to say, they are not welcome inside the home so even dogs that have an owner are subject to the same conditions as street dogs. Since most of the people can't afford a car, and taxi drivers refuse to pick up passengers with dogs, they have no way to get to a veterinarian… and the cycle just goes on and on.
Readers of The Dog Lady experience a world very different than their own, and see and feel a part of Mexico they could never have imagined. They get to share the journey of Rose, whose life takes an uncharted course into unknown territory, and experience the passion that changed a life forever.
Alison is a recipient of The Doris Day Animal Kindred Spirit Award, and in 2007 she was invited to Mexico City for the first Forum on Small Animal Overpopulation in Mexico. To date, Sawyer has spayed or neutered more than 12,000 animals and promoted adoptions in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
transforms Alison Sawyer Current's heroic, real-life efforts to save the neglected and starving dogs and cats of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, into an inspiring and moving story. Alison founded the nonprofit Isla Animals as a means of offering spay/neuter clinics, low-to-no cost veterinary services, owner education, and so much more to help the plight of these poor animals.
