Fresno is the worst city in the U.S. to own a pet, new survey says. Here’s why

If you own a pet, Fresno is the worst.

Worst of the country’s 100 largest U.S. cities anyway, according to the latest in WalletHub’s never-ending supply of city-ranking surveys.

International Homeless Animals Day happens Aug. 15, as a reminder of the overpopulation of cats and dogs and the need for adoptions and spay/neuter programs and is the raison du jour for the WalletHub survey, which was released on Wednesday and ranked a city’s pet-friendliness based on a range of metrics.

Those metrics included the cost of veterinary care and dog insurance premiums (one wonders if cats are excluded on purpose), or the number of dog-friendly restaurants and hotels, and also each state’s coronavirus restrictions (which were give triple weight in the overall scoring for some reason).

Fresno, which ranked No. 91 in same survey in 2018, was at the bottom of the list, just below San Bernardino. Tampa topped the list. Only one California city, San Diego, cracked the top 10.

For practical purposes, the survey doesn’t shed light on much that pet owners won’t already know. Fresno was No. 84 for pet-friendly hotels and No. 75 for dog-friendly restaurants. Those rankings are were based on the number per capita and not on the quality of said establishments, both of which have certainly improved the past few years.

Pet-friendly patios have been legal in the state only since 2014.

Considering the city’s overall score, Fresno ranked better than average in terms of dog parks (No. 36) and animal shelters (No. 31).

Some will remember in January the city announced it had acquired land for a new animal shelter. The shelter was expected to be constructed as early as summer 2021 and run by an outside group, possibly the Fresno Humane Animal Services. The city had been contracted with Central California Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for pet adoptions, stay collections and maintenance of a local animal shelter.

The city’s 11 dog parks had been closed due to the coronavirus, but reopened in mid-June.

This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 1:13 PM.