Our main finding was that Detroit has few dedicated pet stores and veterinary clinics, and these resources are not evenly distributed. Eleven of the city’s 26 ZIP codes, clustered in contiguous areas, have no pet stores or vet clinics. They form two large areas: a band stretching across the mid-city, and a zone in southwest Detroit.

We identified 11 specialty pet supply stores that serve Detroit’s 243,000 households. Four of these stores are in the downtown/midtown area – which, due to gentrification, has an increasing number of younger, white and higher-income residents.

The other seven stores are scattered around the periphery of the city. This distribution leaves a large underserved area in between, with many residents living a mile or more away from a pet store.

Veterinary practices are not clustered in the same way. While there are very few vet offices relative to our estimated number of pets, these offices are spread relatively evenly across the city and are more likely than pet stores to be located in middle- or lower-income ZIP codes.

Overall, we found that Detroit ZIP codes with more young, single and highly educated residents and higher median rents have significantly more pet resources per capita. More densely populated areas – such as Mexican Town, with high numbers of Hispanic residents, and the city’s far east side, with a high proportion of African Americans – have significantly fewer.

Lack of access to pet food and supplies is a problem in low-income areas, even in the age of online providers such as Amazon and Chewy. Shopping online requires internet access and credit card payment. People who can’t mail-order pet supplies need physical access to stores.

There’s no official data source on Detroit’s pet abandonment rates, but the city has a long-standing and significant stray dog problem.

In 2022, the four largest animal shelters in Detroit took in 7,095 dogs. For comparison, Animal Rescue League shelters in Boston, which has a similar population size, took in 1,049 dogs in 2019.

The collective 2022 dog euthanasia rate for the four Detroit shelters was about 22%, although it varied widely among the shelters. Animal shelters that are designated “no-kill” generally aim to euthanize no more than 10% of the animals they take in, and to do so only when irreparable health or behavioral issues prevent the animals from finding new homes. Detroit Animal Care and Control, a city agency, regularly operates beyond capacity and has to euthanize animals due to lack of space.

Having ready access to pet resources could encourage Detroit residents of all income levels to adopt pets and help prevent relinquishment to shelters.

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