Publishing our pets feature last month got us thinking: How many pets are there around here, anyway?
Well, according to recent data from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), there are probably about 200,600 dogs, 219,100 cats, and 24,400 birds in Westchester, assuming we track with national averages.
For reference, the latest of the US Census Bureau’s American Community Surveys says there are about 955,900 people living in 343,500 households in the county. So that means there are about 4.5 dogs or cats per person. (A dog-owning household tends to own about 1.6 dogs, a cat-owning one 2.1 cats, and a bird-owning one 2.3 birds.)
In addition, the AVMA says pet-ownership overall is growing, especially among non-married people, 54.7 percent of whom owned a pet in 2011—up from 46.9 percent in 2006
Didn’t get enough cuddly pets in our April issue? Well, you could go to westchestermagazine.com/webexclusives for our cache of extra images and videos—or check your local animal shelter for loving pets just waiting to be adopted.
