Tampa Is Best U.S. City If You're A Dog; Just Ask Desa

Tampa FL

20 January, 2021

6:04 PM

Description

TAMPA, FL — The city of Tampa has won a host of national honors, but this won goes to the dogs. Honest Paws, a company that provides CBD products for pets, ranked 50 cities to find the best and worst U.S. communities for furry friends, and it turns out that Tampa is the leader of the pack. Honest Paws took into consideration such things as the number of dog-friendly establishments, abundant outdoor spaces, healthy interaction with other dogs, and ample access to veterinary care. With overall dog ownership and pandemic pet adoptions on the rise, finding communities that foster a dog's physical and mental health is important to pet owners. And it turns out that canines living in Tampa are lucky dogs. One city, famous for its Fido-friendly shopping villages and off-leash beaches, emerged as the No. 1 city for dogs. Tampa has 15 dog parks, 52 pet-friendly breweries and six dog-friendly beaches nearby with a few allowing dogs to frolic in the water and roam off-leash. Tampa even has a First Dog. Alcaldesa (Desa) was adopted by Tampa Mayor Jane Castor from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. Each day she joins the mayor in her office and attends ribbon-cuttings and official city events. Another Florida city, Orlando, landed the No. 2 spot on the list with 376 pet-friendly restaurants, 128 pet-friendly hotels and 15 veterinarians within its 113.7 square miles. And neither Hillsborough County or Orange County have enacted breed-specific legislation. When it comes to cities with the most veterinary care, Orlando and Tampa did a switch. Orlando was rate first and Tampa second. Tampa also came in No. 6 for most dog parks Methodology To determine the best and worst cities to be a dog, Honest Paws looked at the nine ranking factors below for each city and assigned weights to each factor based on their level of contribution toward a dog's quality of life.Lastly, Honest Paws calculated the sum of the nine weighted factors, which gave an overall score for each city. The highest possible city score was 50. 1. Number of Pet-Friendly Restaurants (Per 100K) Weight: 1.02. Number of Pet-Friendly Breweries (Per 100K) Weight: 1.03. Number of Pet-Friendly Hotels (Per 100K) Weight: 1.04. Number of Pet-Friendly Beaches (Per 100K) Weight: 0.55. Number of Pet-Friendly Rentals (Per 100K) Weight: 1.56. Number of Dog Parks (Per 100K) Weight: 1.57. Number of Veterinarians (Per 100K) Weight: 1.58. Number of Hiking Trails (Per 100K) Weight: 0.59. State is Against Breed-Specific Legislation* Weight: 1.5 *When a state is against breed-specific legislation (BSL), this can mean less discrimination against certain breeds like pit bulls, Rottweilers and mastiffs. Therefore, Honest Paws gave a higher score to cities located in states where such legislation is banned on the state level (meaning the state is against BSL). Top 10 Best Cities For Dogs1 Tampa 43.01 score2 Orlando 40.99 score3 Las Vegas 38.49 score4 Richmond, Virginia 35.12 score5 Pittsburgh 34.60 score6 Miami 33.83 score7 Portland 32.84 score8 Seattle 32.73 score9 Denver 32.32 score10 St. Louis 31.67 score11 Salt Lake City 29.70 score12 Austin, Texas 29.69 score13 Cincinnati 29.46 score14 Sacramento, California 28.93 score15 San Diego 28.5116 San Francisco 28.3917 Minneapolis 28.3218 Atlanta 27.8919 Boston 25.4220 Virginia Beach, Virginia 25.37.Worst Cities For Dogs1 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 7.232 Louisville, Kentucky 8.433 Columbus, Ohio 9.064 Memphis, Tennessee 9.875 Detroit, Michigan 9.916 Providence, Rhode Island 10.517 Philadelphia 11.408 Baltimore, Maryland 11.599 New York 12.4910 Kansas City, Missouri 13.36