Knowing how many animal are in our area can help plan for the future. Foundations, donors, and elected officials usually want see statistics and hard data supporting requests for funding.
One figure that often seem difficult to estimate, however, is the total number of owned animals in the community. The Humane Society of the United States’s recently published Disasters Planning Manual contains advise to help the animals in their area stand up and be counted.
They used the National Pet Owners Survey, conducted by The American Pet Products Manufactures Association - 2003 - 2004 as their source for the percentage of U.S. households owning a pet and the number of pets per household.
The formula by no means is exact; it is based on national averages and does not account for potential variables among regions, states and communities and does not attempt to account for stray animals.
According to the last census count there were an estimated 13,400 households in our community. For dogs, the formula is: 39% of the households own dogs and there are 1.6 dogs per households that have dogs. For cats, the formula is: 34% of the households own dogs and there are 2.2 cats per households that have cats.
When one does the math, one finds that there are an estimated 8,362 dogs and 10,023 cats that live in 13,700 households in Hardin County.
The really sad thing is, that of the 20,046 dogs and cats, that we can estimate, only 4,861 are legally vaccinated according to the Hardin County Health Department.
That would mean that only 24.2% of the estimated dogs and cats in Hardin County are legally vaccinated. That would mean that 75.8% are not. That would definitely be an "F" in responsible pet ownership.
One must remember that these figures do not account for animals that do not reside in a household environment, like stray dogs or feral cats.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration.
Ted
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