How much do Atlantans love their pets? Well, for starters, more than 72 percent admit that when talking to their pets, they refer to themselves as “mommy” or “daddy.” A full 77 percent give birthday and holiday gifts to their pets, and 53 percent give gifts
from their pets.
To find out how crazy (and we use that word advisedly) Atlantans are about the animals in their lives,
Atlanta magazine surveyed more than 2,400 metro-area pet owners about everything from whether they’ve left instructions about their pets in their wills (34 percent have) to whether they’ve taken Fido or Fluffy to a therapist (7 percent have, but of those, just 12 percent said the therapy worked).
Among our findings:
A fluffy romance. Nine percent of our readers said they ended a relationship because the other person didn’t get along with their pet, and 2 percent broke up with someone because of that person’s pet. Nine percent of those surveyed said they had used a pet as a means of hitting on someone.
Trick or treat. More readers (32 percent) dress up pets for Halloween than dress them in sweaters (27 percent).
Under the covers. An indulgent 80 percent of Atlantans allow pets to sleep in the bed, and 81 percent let animal members of their households sleep on the sofa.
Rover at the wheel? One possible cause of traffic problems in Atlanta? The 43 percent who ride with their pets in the front seat—or the 14 percent who let animals ride in their laps while they drive.
Totally devoted. When it comes to taking care of pets, a full 60 percent said there is “no limit” to what they’d spend to save a pet’s life.
Illustration by Greg Clarke