Monday: State ranks high in pet ownership
BY SARA PLUMMER World Staff Writer
Sunday, January 27, 2013
1/27/13 at 8:28 PM
She may go by Cat, but Catherine Ingram is more of a dog person.
“An avid dog person,” she said. “I’ve never been without an animal, except the four years I was at Oklahoma State (University), and I missed it terribly.”
Ingram, who now has two adopted dogs in her south Tulsa home, is one of thousands in Oklahoma who own pets.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s newly released U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, 43.2 percent of Oklahomans own dogs and 32.6 percent own cats, both higher than the national averages of 36.5 percent and 30.4 percent respectively.
The numbers are higher still in the seven-county Tulsa metro area, where 54.4 percent report being dog owners and 28.5 percent say they own a cat, according to Scarborough Research 2012.
The veterinary association’s sourcebook shows that Oklahoma ranks 10th in the nation for dog ownership and 18th for cat ownership, figures that aren’t surprising to some.
“Our way of living in general, we have good core values and families are very important. Pets are a part of our family,” said Gina Gardner, president of the Tulsa Humane Society.
Read more in Monday's Tulsa World.
Associated Images:
Cat Ingram is pictured with her adopted dogs (left) Barkley and Sophia. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
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