Best Dog Friendly States – As the saying goes, “Dogs are man’s best friend.” But does it apply worldwide? The reality is that animal rights vary widely around the world. In some countries, dogs are worshiped like children. In others, they eat like chickens. For this reason, we decided to take a deeper dive into how dogs are treated around the world. The results of our research are included in this in-depth index of dog-friendly countries
The 51 countries included in our study were selected based on available data. Unfortunately, many countries lack basic information about how they treat animals, especially dogs. In our research design, we used a mixed methods approach with the following eight ranked factors to determine scores for each country that indicate how well they care for their dogs.
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1. Animal Protection Index (0 to 50 points): This data comes from the Animal Protection Index (API) website. The API describes several factors that determine their index, including recognition of animal feelings, prohibition of animal suffering and whether there is animal welfare legislation.
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2. Companion animals (0 to 50 points): Animal care index data has been removed. The pet score is based on a rating from A to G determined by the legislation aimed at protecting pets and other companion animals in the countries surveyed.
3. Animal rights laws (0 to 50 points): This data was obtained from the Wikipedia index and analyzed by our animal rights team by country. Points are awarded based on whether or not the government has animal welfare laws and whether those laws are enforced.
Note: Although many of the countries on our list have animal rights laws, we understand that these laws are not always enforced. We are not making the false assumption that all these countries enforce these laws. However, the Animal Rights Act is a step in the right direction to protect animals from harm.
4. Animal Sentiment Laws (0 to 50 points): This metric is obtained through the API. Points are determined by the country that has laws that specifically address the ability of animals to feel emotions.
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5. Pet-friendly hotels per capita (0 to 100 points): We found out how many hotels in a given country allow dogs to stay on their property and calculated the value per capita.
6. Rabies prevalence (0 to 100 points): Points are awarded for this metric based on a country’s status as “low risk” for rabies.
7. Veterinarians per capita (0 to 100 points): We used the Veterinary Guide website to gather the number of veterinarians in the country and calculated the veterinary score to get a per capita score compared to the population.
8. Cultural practice of eating dogs (-100 points): We took the data on dog meat consumption from Wikipedia and verified this information from several reliable sources. Only countries with high consumption of dog meat, which is still widely documented, are included. They are Switzerland, South Korea, Philippines, Nigeria, Indonesia, China and Vietnam.
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It would be nice to include more metrics, but we are limited by the lack of data in each country. We found that many countries lack the resources or interest in monitoring animal-specific issues, which limits our data collection capacity. In our limited data selection, we identified specific metrics that directly impact dog ownership and livelihoods.
Each of these countries has demonstrated a commitment to animal protection legislation and there are various factors that can prevent the risk of harm to your faithful companion. These countries scored well on factors such as low rabies cases, accessible veterinary clinics and services, as well as pet-friendly accommodation and no high prevalence of dog meat consumption.
Italy, New Zealand and France round out the top 3 countries in terms of animal welfare. None of these countries have recorded the modern practice of using dogs. All have high rates of veterinary care per capita, and all three countries have unique animal welfare legislation.
All fifteen countries have a high risk of rabies (except South Korea), no comprehensive animal protection laws, and few veterinarians per capita. Additionally, six of these countries have a current, documented practice of eating dog meat. While it is still possible to have a happy and healthy dog in these countries, our findings suggest that it is not ideal for dogs or owners.
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The Animal Protection Index (API), compiled by World Animal Protection, ranks 50 countries around the world based on ten factors of animal health and welfare. They are ranked based on a scale of A to G. While not directly specific to dogs, we believe there are enough factors related to the health and well-being of domestic dogs that we have included them as a metric. Notably, no country received an ‘A’ grade from the World Animal Welfare Group.
We have provided a further assessment of the law relating to companion animals and their legal protection in selected countries. This metric also comes from the API and is rated on a scale of A to G. It clearly discusses laws where a citizen fails to act in relation to animals in their care and laws prohibiting the abandonment of companion animals.
Some countries still do not have officially recognized laws regarding the treatment of animals. These include laws against animal cruelty, unnecessary animal suffering and recognition of animal feelings.
A country that officially and legally recognizes that animals have sentience (the ability to have emotions such as joy, fear and pain) has laws to protect animals from unnecessary suffering. However, we found 26 countries with animal rights laws but no animal welfare laws.
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Pet-friendly hotels are often an indicator of how open and welcoming a country is to animals. This is a good measure for pet owners to check if accommodation is available in their country if they are traveling with their dog. When traveling with a dog, it is important to have suitable equipment with you. Check out our puppy essentials checklist for some great tips.
Although rabies is no longer a major risk in some countries around the world, it is still a major problem in many countries. Rabies causes 59,000 human deaths annually, mainly in Asia and Africa. Owning a dog in a country with a high incidence of rabies is inherently dangerous. You can do everything you can to protect your dog and yourself from infection, but in a country where rabies is still widespread, you cannot completely eliminate the risk.
Your dog’s ability to stay healthy and happy depends largely on his access to quality health care. Especially in an emergency, having a vet nearby can be life or death for your pup.
Finally, and perhaps most controversially, we included a measure of recorded, continuous consumption of dog meat, deducting 100 points from countries where it is still prevalent. We don’t give any points to countries that don’t grow dog food.
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Yes. We were also surprised. Although this practice is controversial, many sources say that it still takes place in Switzerland, especially in rural areas such as Luzern, Appenzell, Jura, St. Gallen and the canton of Bern. While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how common this is, our in-depth analysis of the topic found that countless people know a family member who has eaten dog or cat meat in their lifetime.
We have made efforts to petition the government to change existing animal cruelty laws, which already prohibit the commercial sale of cat and dog meat and include private slaughter and consumption. However, as of this writing in 2022, killing and eating dogs is still legal in Switzerland, as a petition has only received 16,000 of the 50,000 signatures needed to force a referendum on the issue due to Switzerland’s system of direct democracy.
Many countries have a long history of eating dogs and consider it part of their culinary tradition. While animal rights advocates are pushing for change, some cultures are resisting it. In fact, there is a whole dog meat festival in China. While some people in countries like South Korea and Indonesia see dog meat as having health or medicinal properties, countries are becoming stricter about the consequences of illegal dog meat distribution. This means that in Asia alone, 30 million dogs are still killed annually for food and medicinal purposes.
Owning a dog can be rewarding no matter what country you are in. However, being aware of your country’s environmental issues, available health care services, and disease rates can help you better protect your dog. If you’re in the United States, check out our list of the 150 best places for dogs in 2022.
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