Dallas: America’s No. 2 dog-friendliest city?
The problem with using a mathematical formula to pick the dog-friendliest U.S cities is that math is cold and calculating and fails to take into account life’s little nuances, or sometimes its big ones, or sometimes humanity at all.
I’d guess that explains how Petside.com picked Dallas — where the mayor recently gave Michael Vick a key to the city — as the second dog friendliest in America.
Petside reported last week that “after scouring the country” and compiling statistics, it has chosen San Diego as America’s dog friendliest city, with Dallas in second place and Seattle third.
Petside, a website for pet owners and pet enthusiasts, released its list of “Top 10 Pet-Friendly U.S. Cities” last Thursday. The rankings take into consideration the number of dog parks and major pet stores, vets per population and pet-friendly establishments and events.
How Dallas snuck in between two truly dog friendly cities, I don’t know. It has two parks where dogs can romp unleashed. Beyond that, Petside cites only the fact that Dallas has lots of dog-related official activities.
San Diego, on the other hand, has more than a dozen dog-friendly beaches and parks, eight major pet stores, more than 800 veterinarians and more than 50 restaurants that allow pets on their patios.
Rounding out Petside’s top 10 were Minneapolis, Denver, Tuscon, Charlotte, Fort Worth, Sacramento and Phoenix.
Petside also announced a new app, called Pet Places, that allows dog owners to look up vets, kennels and other pet-related businesses in cities around the country.
If you don’t like Petside’s list of dog-friendly cities, you can always find another one, some better researched than others.
Dogfriendly.com, though it provides little information on how they arrive at their choices, puts out an annual list. (Earlier this month, it also picked San Diego first, with Portland, Oregon second and Austin third.) Dog Fancy, which last year named Provincetown, Mass., the dog-friendliest city will be coming out with its annual listing soon. Foodandwine.com puts out a dog-friendliest city list too, but, given they are also busy with matters of food and wine, I guess, only takes time to choose five.
My advice? Taken any list of dog-friendly cities, if not with a glass of wine, with a grain of salt.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 30th, 2011 under Muttsblog.
Tags: america, charlotte, cities, dallas, denver, dog friendliest, dog friendly, florida, fort worth, friendliest, key to the city, list, lists, math, measure, measuring, michael vick, minneapolis, money, perceptions, petside, provincetown, sacramento, san diego, seattle, statistics, top ten, tucson, u.s.
Comments
Comment from DallasDogLife.com
Time May 30, 2011 at 12:27 pm
While I respect your opinion, the City of Dallas should not be punished for the ridiculous act of one ex-councilman (Dwaine Caraway). Dallas and our surrounding communities have many off leash parks and our City Council is working on creating even more. In addition to dog friendly events, restaurants, stores, and other businesses, we have an extremely active rescue community and have worked hard to help our Animal Services division improve their facilities and programs, by helping to support their adoption and spay/neuter initiatives. I’m very disappointed that you didn’t think to contact one of the many dog-friendly publications in Dallas (FIDO Oak Cliff, DallasDogLife, ReadLarryPowell.com, etc) before making such a blanket statement. Dallas-Fort Worth welcomes any visitors to our Metroplex to explore and find the many, many places here that welcome you and your pet with open paws!
Sincerely,
Yvonne Ybarra
Owner, DallasDogLife.com
Comment from Judith Pannebaker
Time May 30, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Thanks for this info, John. I emailed the people at Petside just what I thought of their selections. What a joke!
Comment from marci
Time May 30, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Whatever. I actually live here in Dallas and have taken my dog to 2 bars, a restaurant, a book store, a record store just this weekend. My dog who passed away last year even went to the Holocaust Museum. The mayor pro tem’s bonehead move with Vick has absolutely nothing to do with the city being dog friendly or not.
Comment from smoketoomuch
Time June 2, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Being a native Philadelphian (and therefore tarred by the Vick / Eagles brush) I understand the pain of the Dallas residents who posted above. It’s no fun to be generalized about, especially when animal cruelty is the issue at hand. However, thinking people understand that an entire city cannot be held responsible for the acts of a few, no matter how ill conceived those acts may be.
Comment from Lisa
Time May 30, 2011 at 11:26 am
I’m even more surprised that Denver made the list at #5.
Other than their horrible BSL, I love Denver. I lived there for years, I raised my child there, and I really miss living there. I can absolutely see why it might be listed on just about any kind of top ten cities list by any measure other than dog friendliness.
But they kill people’s dogs there, and as long as they have that law, I’m stuck out here with my pit bull in the suburbs.
If they were to finally get rid of that horrible law once and for all, so that I could feel safe living there with the dog I love, I’d move back in a heartbeat. As it is, though, I rarely even go into the city even without my dog anymore.