Dennis RomeroLos Angeles has backyards, sunshine, dog parks, a dog beach and a pet-pampering retail culture that are second to none. So why was L.A. just ranked as one of America's least pet-friendly cities?
Real estate and rental listings site Zumper analyzed 95 major cities, looking at the number of listings in a market where landlords allow pets, analyzing the number of vets, pet stores and pet services, and compiling data from WalkScore, Yelp, Trust for Public Land, and Zumper's own listing inventory.
L.A. ranked 85th in the nation, just out of the bottom 10, on this “Most Pet Friendly Cities in the U.S.” list. The overall grade for Los Angeles, including “ease of owning a pet” and pet accessibility for renters, was a mediocre C+.
Animal welfare group PETA blamed irresponsible owners as well as landlords who make it difficult for apartment-dwellers to own a pet.
“[I]rresponsible animal owners have made it almost impossible for non-home owners to find a place to live with their dogs and cats,” according to a PETA statement responding to the ranking, which goes on to claim that “too many people underestimate how much care animals need. The result is people who aren't ready for the commitment an animal requires, leaving early in the morning only to return in the evening to a lonely dog who has spent the day with nothing to do but bark, soil the floors, and tear things up in frustration. This makes animals suffer and landlords leery.”
Other SoCal cities — Riverside (88th), San Diego (58th) — didn't fare too well, either. The only California city in the top 10 for pet friendliness was Sacramento (9th).
If you want to live in pet heaven, you'll have to move to top-ranked St. Petersburg, Florida, which has a “high density of veterinarians, pet stores and pet restaurants in the area,” according to Zumper.
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