Austin Ranked Among Top Ten Dog-Friendliest Cities

Well, the title of this story pretty much says it all. Or, at least most of it. Men's Health magazine recently published a ranking of the top 50 dog-friendly cities in the country. Dear old Austin made the top ten, coming in at 7th place nationwide. Among the criteria that Men's Health considered were animal cruelty laws, the number of veterinarian clinics and the number of dog parks.

This seems like a good ranking spot for our city. Number 7 is just inside the top ten, so the country knows we're serious about dogs around these parts. Yet, at the same time, Number 7 isn't too high in the top ten. And that's probably a good thing. A Number 7 ranking says, "Yes, Austin is better for dogs than most cities, and we like dogs and treat them well, but we're not, like, obsessive about them or anything." We just like 'em, and they're a part of our lives. That's all.

Colorado Springs, Colorado, on the other hand, came in at Number 1 on the magazine's rankings. Yeah, and what does that get them? What does that mean? Here's what: Dog excess. Dogs are probably treated so well in Colorado Springs that they pretty much run the show. The place is probably overrun by canines, and the downtown area probably reeks of dog poo. Maybe it's even like Children of the Corn, except that, instead of being run by crazy kids who ran off all the adults, the entire city is teeming with roving packs of wild dogs who have long since killed their masters and taken over. Hell, the city's probably even governed by dogs. Dogs may create and enforce public policy and municipal codes. A Number 1 ranking says, "Not only do we like dogs, just like the rest of the cities in the Top Ten, but it's basically all we think about. The Mayor and three-fourths of the City Council are dogs, for chrissakes."

Austin's the Number 7 dog city in America. And that's good for both dogs and humans.

Photo by jj look on flickr