According to the American Veterinary Medical Association's United States Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook released on Tuesday, Jan. 15, the dog days aren't over for Alabama as it is ranked 7th for dog ownership with 44.1 percent of households owning a dog.
This survey is conducted every five years by the AVMA, and it always includes a classification of pet ownership by state.
"We work with a company that reaches out to people across the country and conduct a survey. We get 50,000 of them," said Thomas McPheron, an AVMA spokesperson. "Then, a team of market research analysts goes to work on it, look for trends and put together the book."
According to McPheron, five years ago Alabama was not even in the top 10 for pet ownership.
"55.9 percent of people in Alabama said that they did not own a pet," McPheron said.
The most recent survey, which was conducted in 2012 and based on data building up until Dec. 31, 2011, revealed that the states that outranked Alabama in dog ownership are Arkansas, New Mexico, Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia and Mississippi.
Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma proceeded Alabama's ranking in the top 10.
Maddy Clawges, junior in pre-veterinary medicine, said she decided to own a dog for the companionship.
"I only have one roommate, and since I'm a girl, it kind of makes me feel safer at night," Clawges said.
Clawges also said that being a full-time dog owner while also being a full-time student isn't as difficult as some might think.
"I think that if you really want a dog, and if you know how to take care of dogs, it's actually really easy to just adapt it to your schedule, especially if you have grown up with them," Clawges said.
Erin Summerlin, a first-year Master's student in geology, agreed with Clawges and said having not one, but two dogs while taking classes is not as overwhelming as most people that don't own dogs perceive it to be.
"I think it helps a lot with companionship and stress relief. They're just such a joy and comfort to have, and they bring so much happiness to my daily life," Summerlin said. "It's really worth it. Honestly, two isn't that much more work than one, and they keep each other company when I can't be there. It's the best thing I've done in a long time."
Both Clawges and Summerlin bring their dogs to Kiesel Park as often as they can to let them exercise and to meet up with other college-aged people that love dogs as much as they do.
However, along with companionship and unconditional love comes vet bills; a factor most people believe would pose problems for college students.
"It's not anymore than when humans go to the doctor," Summerlin said. "You just have to be dedicated to your animal. There are people that like dogs, but you really have to have a bond with your pet and treat them like a person. You've just got to make sure that they have everything that they need, sometimes over what you want."
According to McPheron, one of the most vital purposes for conducting this survey is to see how well pet owners are doing at keeping their pets healthy.
"Pet owners taking their pets to the vet is something we're really concerned about, and over the past 10 years we've noticed a slight decline in veterinarian visits done by pet owners," McPheron said. "A lot of people attribute this to the economy, and I'm sure that has played a role in this decline, but it's become a broader problem."
McPheron said one reason for a declining rate of veterinary visits is people seeking medical help on the Internet rather than consulting a trained veterinarian.
"There's no way of knowing if the information on those websites is good," McPheron said. "We really want to reach out to the public and let them know that the vet isn't just a place you bring your pets to for their shots, but it's also a resource of information on animal health for the community. We want to make sure that connection is emphasized." Ranks no. 7 in national dog ownership survey
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