Providence Journal photo / Bob Thayer
Coen DeGuilio of Cranston ran at full speed through Roger Williams Park with his dog, Daisy, after school Monday afternoon, near the Temple to Music. He was with his mom, and they were all enjoying that day's unseasonable 60-degree weather.
Rhode Island ranks near the bottom in pet ownership, as calculated in the American Veterinary Medical Association's U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook.
The survey, conducted in 2012 with numbers based on Dec. 31, 2011, found:
Top 10 pet-owning states:
Vermont, with 70.8 percent of households owning a pet.
New Mexico, 67.6.
South Dakota, 65.6.
Oregon, 63.6.
Maine, 62.9.
Washington, 62.7.
Arkansas, 62.4.
West Virginia, 62.1.
Idaho, 62.
Wyoming, 61.8.
Bottom 10:
Rhode Island, 53.
Minnesota, 53.
California, 52.9.
Maryland, 52.3.
Illinois, 51.8.
Nebraska, 51.3.
Utah, 51.2.
New Jersey, 50.7.
New York, 50.6.
Massachusetts, 50.4.
(The District of Columbia, not a state, 21.9)
Rhode Island ranked 43rd for cat ownership (27.6 percent of households) and 47th for dog ownership, (29.3).