new study<\/a> by MetLife Pet Insurance.<\/p>\nAccording to data on walkability, dog parks, veterinary access, pet-friendly businesses and rentals that allow pets, Tampa took the top spot as America\u2019s most pet-friendly place. Atlanta and Austin rounded out the top three.<\/p>\n
A woman and her dog catch a cool breeze in Battery Park City in Manhattan. William Farrington for NY Post<\/p>\n
Dogs taking a dip in the water in Tampa Bay, Fla. Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n
New York joined mega-cities Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston, ranked 34th, 37th and 38th respectively, in a surprising trend: bigger cities aren\u2019t necessarily better for pets.<\/p>\n
Where you live shapes a pet\u2019s daily life. A walkable block, a friendly neighborhood vet, or a landlord who welcomes Tigger and Fido can make a city feel pet-friendly.<\/p>\n
While the Big Apple may be a paradise for people, the study suggests it\u2019s a far tougher place for dogs, cats \u2014 and the humans who love them.<\/p>\n
A dog with fashionable footwear takes a ride on a Manhattan-bound J train. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n
One of New York\u2019s biggest weak spots was access to veterinarians.<\/p>\n
The city tied for last place nationally with just 1.2 highly-rated veterinary clinics per 100,000 residents, putting it alongside El Paso at the bottom of that category. <\/p>\n
Chicago and Houston also struggled with vet availability.<\/p>\n
A \u201cbodega cat\u201d named Simba watches the world go by in the Big Apple. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Pet owners in Tampa enjoy a dog beach on Davis Islands. AP<\/p>\n
NYC did score a major win for walkability, tying San Francisco for the highest score in the country.<\/p>\n
At the top of the list, Tampa pulled ahead of the competition thanks to a combination of abundant veterinarians, pet-friendly businesses and rentals that welcome furry tenants.<\/p>\n
At the other end of the spectrum, Fresno, Calif. finished dead last\u00a0at 49, with Memphis close behind at 48 and El Paso taking the third worst spot at No. 47.<\/p>\n
Dogs take a stroll in NYC\u2019s Tompkins Park. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n
The study found that no single city dominated every category. Some excelled in dog parks, others in rentals or veterinary care. <\/p>\n
But the overall takeaway was clear: when it comes to creating a pet-friendly environment, infrastructure matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bad news for New York City pet owners: the Big Apple is barking up the wrong tree when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[105062,9,24,11,10,6124,32544,58],"class_list":["post-272658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-house-pets","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-pets","tag-survey-says","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}