Attitude toward nonhuman animals and their welfare: Do behaviorists differ from other veterinarians?

Abstract

Veterinarians are an important source of information about animal care for owners. They provide general advice about topics important to an animal's well-being, such as appropriate training, exercise and nutrition. Veterinary behaviorists, when dealing with undesired or abnormal behaviors, also perform an assessment of pet welfare and an evaluation of owners' behavior and attitudes. It is likely that these assessments are affected by the attitude toward animals and toward animal welfare of the behaviorists. The aim of this study was to investigate whether veterinary behaviorists have a different attitude toward animals and animal welfare compared to other veterinarians. An online questionnaire, also including the 20-item Animal Attitude Scale, was completed by a convenience sample of 540 Italian veterinarians dealing with companion animals: 140 were behaviorists, 22 were starting to work in the field of behavioral medicine, and 378 were not involved in it. Veterinary behaviorists showed a more positive attitude toward non-human animals and their welfare, which seems to be more related to the interest in behavioral medicine than to its practice. Moreover, behaviorists attached more importance to the psychological aspects of pet welfare that they perceived as less protected in their feline and canine patients. These findings suggest that being involved in one discipline or another of veterinary medicine do matter in the attitude toward nonhuman animals and their welfare.

Familiarity and Interest in Working with Livestock Decreases the Odds of Having Positive Attitudes towards Non-Human Animals and Their Welfare among Veterinary Students in Italy

“…The utility that certain animals have for man does not seem to evoke this kind of response—lab mice and rats, despite their utility and relative closeness, do not evoke affection or concern for their condition [ 39 ]. It is remarkable that in the current study, a different attitude towards livestock versus pet welfare was found for the Brambell Report’s Five Freedoms with regard to those freedoms that involve the psychological aspects of welfare [ 9 ]. As for other categories of people, even veterinary students seem to distinguish between “animals good to think with” and “animals good to eat” [ 40 ].…”

“…This will indirectly increase farm animals’ welfare, preventing animal health-related threats and minimizing environmental impacts, in support of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy [ 49 ]. A more structured teaching animal welfare in veterinary curricula is also required for those students who will deal with small animals in the future [ 50 ], especially if their specialization does not include behaviour [ 9 , 50 ].…”

“…The latter items were taken from questionnaires in English previously used in scientific literature and translated into Italian following the procedure of back-translation. The questionnaire used for the current study also included the 20-item Animal Attitude Scale (AAS), a validated scale [ 20 ], as translated and modified by Gazzano [ 9 ].…”

“…They are perceived as guarantors of animals’ health and thereby, their well-being [ 6 ], and they have been traditionally considered as a reference for public opinion and policy design. When considering their paramount role in ensuring and protecting animal welfare, some research over previous years has investigated different features of the attitudes of veterinary practitioners towards animals and their welfare, and the factors that may affect these attitudes [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Some studies have focused on veterinary students, who represent future veterinarians.…”

Protecting Life on Land and Below Water: Using Storytelling to Promote Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes toward Animals

“…Animal Attitude Scale (AAS), developed by Herzog, Betchart, and Pittman' [25], contained 20 items measured by 5-point-Likert scale. The AAS has been used to study adult's attitudes toward animals [26,27]. Knight, Vrij, Cherryman, and Nunkoosing [28] measured students' attitudes through 4 aspects including their attitude toward using animals for experimentation, using animals in the classroom, using animals for personal decoration, and using animals for entertainment.…”