Prague ranked world's 4th-best city for dogs in new 2020 rankings

Comparing 50 major cities around the world, the ranking assessed scores across three major indices that included categories comparing each city’s dog-relevant infrastructure, costs, and ownership regulations.

San Francisco was deemed to be the world’s best city for dogs in the final assessment, followed by Seattle and Tel Aviv. But the Czech capital followed closely behind at #4 in the overall rankings.

Under the infrastructure rankings, Prague fared best in its number of dogs per inhabitants, coming in at third of the 50 cities with about 153 dogs per 1,000 inhabitants. Prague also fared well in its number of dog-friendly restaurants, rating seventh among the cities surveyed, and dog-friendly hotels, coming in at number six.

Prague also ranked high in the cost index, coming in second only to Warsaw among the most affordable cities to own a dog. Still, owning a dog isn’t cheap: the lifetime cost of raising a dog in Prague was estimated at about $12,000 (250,000 CZK).

The world’s most expensive city to own a dog? Raising a dog in Zurich will cost an estimated $34,500 (750,000 CZK).

Under the regulation index, Prague didn’t fare so well, unfortunately, in its number of abandoned dogs, coming in at #26 of the 50 cities surveyed.

In what may surprise some locals, however, the Czech capital did rate well in its fines for not cleaning up after dogs, rating sixth. Only Madrid, Singapore, Barcelona, Oslo, and San Francisco levied higher fines against owners for not cleaning up after their dogs.

The high fines don’t seem to have much of an impact, however. In the dog waste rating, which was compiled by asking residents how responsible they thought dog owners were and if they thought dog waste was a problem on their city’s streets, Prague came in at #36 out of the 50 cities – easily the Czech capital’s worst showing in the rankings.