Alabama Among The Best States To Adopt A Dog

Fact Checked by Nate Hamilton

Here’s the good news: according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), two million dogs are adopted from U.S. shelters each year. The bad news? There’s over three million admitted into the shelter system annually. While some of those are strays who get returned to their owners, we’d rather not think about what happens to the rest.

Despite this, Americans clearly love their dogs. Overall, it’s estimated that across the country 69 million households are caring for 78 million dogs as pets.

And for those looking to add a furry friend to the family, here at BetAlabama.com we thought we’d pause on Alabama sports betting updates and see how the state ranks amongst the best places in the U.S. to adopt a dog. To come up with our list below, we first used RescueMe.org to locate all the adoption agencies in the United States, then ranked the states according to how many dog rescues they had per square mile.

States with Most Dog Rescues per Square Mile

So where does Alabama rate out amongst the best states in America to adopt a dog? Below are some stats

RankState# Dog Rescue GroupsRescues per Sq. Mile
1Rhode Island920.059551165
2Connecticut2450.044196623
3New Jersey3480.039896453
4Delaware860.034555916
5Maryland2580.020796506
6Massachusetts1670.01528228
7New Hampshire1090.011658801
8Florida6230.009445634
9Pennsylvania4350.009445364
10Vermont830.008631124
11North Carolina4580.00850998
12Ohio3670.008187289
13Tennessee3440.008162442
14Virginia3470.008112228
15Georgia4510.007589252
16New York4050.007423704
17South Carolina2340.007307821
18Indiana2570.00705665
19California9150.005589673
20Alabama2750.005246082
21Kentucky1920.004787099
22Illinois2690.004644854
23West Virginia1120.004622361
24Texas10300.003834749
25Arizona4200.003684524

Alabama Residents Love to Adopt Dogs

By these metrics, Alabama is the 20th best state for dog adoption, with 275 total dog rescues across the state. 

In October of last year, Alabama welcomed another dog rescue organization to the state — this one, the largest no-kill shelter in the United States. Big Dog Ranch Rescue began operating in Florida in 2008, but recently opened a second location in Shorter, Alabama. The site was previously used to house greyhounds for the nearby Victoryland Casino before their dog racing track closed over a decade ago.

The new rescue will welcome abandoned dogs from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. With the additional facilities, Big Dog Ranch Rescue is hopes it can save over 10,000 dogs a year.

Across Alabama, 14,390 dogs were adopted in 2020 alone. But there are always animals looking for a good home, so if you have the means and interest, consider adoption.

Author

Jeff Parker

Jeff Parker is an entertainment writer for BetAlabama.com. A writer for film, television and the internet, Jeff is a life long movie buff, with a Masters Degree in Popular Culture. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he works full time as documentary filmmaker and producer.

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