LOS ANGELES — Remember that old song, “How much is that doggie in the window?” For most Americans, it seems it’s no sale.
More than half of people in an Associated poll said they would get their next dog or cat from a shelter, nearly seven times the number who said they would buy their next pet from a store.
More than four in 10 said they thought store pets could have hidden medical or psychological problems, significantly more than those who expressed the same concerns about pets from shelters or breeders.
Just 8 percent of those polled said they would get their next cat or dog at a store. Fifty-four percent of those polled said they would probably get their next pet from a shelter, while 23 percent went for a breeder.
The April 7-12 phone poll of 1,112 pet owners nationwide has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.
