New Study Makes Rhode Island’s Feelings About Pets Pretty Clear

If the internet has taught us anything, it's that people love their pets.

Dog owners, cat owners, even hamster and horse owners have proudly captured their animals on video and shared them with the world millions of times.

New findings show that the average American is more likely to have a pet in their house than a child under 18.

But not every state feels the same about every pet.

Statistics from Spots.com have revealed everything from the states with the highest rate of pet ownership (Wyoming and West Virginia) to the average age of a dog owner (47 years), but their state-by-state numbers were a little surprising.

Not only did the numbers show that New England has three states with the lowest number of dog owners (New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island), but Rhode Island also ranked as the lowest state for cat owners.

Rhode Island was one of only a handful of states where pet ownership dropped below 50%. Just 45.4% of Ocean State households have an animal living there.

So, what's Rhode Island got against pets?

While most states in the U.S. have anywhere from 20-30% cat ownership, Rhode Island's only at 16.7%. That's way lower than the next closest state and makes you wonder why Rhode Islanders don't care much for cats.

While cost may factor in for some, it can't be the major reason. Rhode Island is fourth for least expensive states to own a dog and third for least expensive states to own a cat.

Either Rhode Island doesn't like animals or perhaps it just needs some fun facts about these would-be furry friends.