It’s no secret that the Queen City loves dogs. One quick trip around the block and you’ll scratch more ears and witness more poop pick-ups than you can count on one hand. And according to a recent study conducted by WalletHub, there’s a reason for that: Cincinnati is the seventh most pet-friendly city out of the top 100 largest cities surveyed.
The study looked at three dimensions of pet-friendliness to determine the ranking — pet budget, pet health and wellness and outdoor pet-friendliness — and criteria like veterinary care costs, pet businesses per capita, dog parks per capita and more.
Scottsdale and Orlando took the top two spots, followed in order by San Diego, Austin, Phoenix and Tampa. Behind Cincy? Seattle, Las Vegas and Irvine, Ca. round out the top 10.
Here’s a list of all of Cincinnati’s rankings:
Pet-Friendliness of Cincinnati (1=Most Pet-Friendly; 50=Avg.):
8th – Veterinary Care Costs
26th – Dog Insurance Premium
6th – Veterinarians per Capita
22nd – Pet Businesses per Capita
32nd – Dog-Friendly Restaurants per Capita
44th – Dog Parks per Capita
32nd – Walk Score
19th – Animal Shelters per Capita
37th – Pet Caretakers per Capita
And the Queen City is about the be more pet-friendly — especially in the dog-friendly restaurants per capita category. Last week, Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed House Bill 263, which allows “the owner of a retail food establishment or food service operation to allow dogs in an outdoor dining area of the establishment or operation.” Basically, you will soon be able to legally hang out with your dog while you eat brunch/lunch/dinner/etc. outside.
This article appears in Aug 1-8, 2018.