Driving home last night on a typical Friday rush hour bumper-to-bumper commute, I heard a report on WTOP that two suburbs within an hour of Washington, D.C., made the U.S. News &World Report list of 10 Best Places to Live for Pet Lovers.
They complied the list looking at weather, population density, availability of green space, and by interviewing pet experts.
Ellicott City, Md., about 35 miles from D.C., topped the list at number one, due to a lot of shelters with adoptable pets, more than four miles of green space, and relatively few rainy days. In fact, my Sundae came from the Animal Welfare Society of Howard County, just a few miles from Ellicott City.
Wolf Trap, Va., came in at number 10, due to the number of community groups advocating for off-leash dog parks and animal-friendly ammenities. They say dogs are allowed on the grounds of Wolf Trap Park, but not in the performing arts center.
Now, a year or so ago I wrote an email to the public relations director at Wolf Trap asking them to organize a dog-friendly event. I suggested the last performance of the season (so patrons don’t get upset about sitting where dogs may have recently relieved themselves), and having a fundraiser for local animal shelters.
Alas, I got no response whatsoever. Don’t you think that would be a fun event? Look how successful Pups in the Park has become for the Nationals, and the crowds the local pools who hold end-of-season dog dips attract!
Now, what WTOP doesn’t say in their report is that the story is from 2009. Not exactly sure why WTOP is running it now, more than two years later, but it’s still cool to know that our area has two of the top 10.
Watch the slide show of the top ten here.
Two Dog Tales 
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