If a war broke out between America’s Cat People and Dog People tomorrow, the fight would be evenly matched and the battle lines would be somewhat distinct. This, according to a map created by the Washington Post using data from the American Veterinary Medical Association that shows which pet each state has more of: dogs or cats.
Dog People dominate the south, while the cat bias grows heavier as you move north — especially in the midwest and northeast — which makes sense from a practicality standpoint: densely-populated cities aren’t nearly as dog-friendly, and taking a dog outside to use the bathroom doesn’t jibe with harsh winters. But it also doesn’t make sense at all, because every state should be a dog state.
Overall, according to the AVMA’s data, dog households (43 million) outnumber cat households (36 million) in America. But cat owners are hoarding the ever-loving furballs out of their felines: the number of total cats owned (74 million) outpaces the number of dogs owned (70 million).
Most states carry a balanced cat-dog ratio, and the country is essentially divided evenly on the cat/dog thing. That’s not the case worldwide. Here’s a global map created by the Post using data from Euoromonitor (data was only provided for 54 countries):
According to Wonkblog, dogs outnumber cats 10-to-1 in India and 2.5-to-1 in China, while cats outnumber dogs 3-to-1 in Switzerland, Austria, and Turkey. Meanwhile, the entire continent of South America is essentially dog-heavy.