Education as a tool for improving canine welfare: Evaluating the effect of an education workshop on attitudes to responsible dog ownership and canine welfare in a sample of Key Stage 2 children in the United Kingdom

Abstract

One of the core objectives of many animal-welfare organisations is to achieve improvements in=animal welfare through school education programmes. However, whilst many charities and organisations develop and deliver these educational activities, impact relating to specific animal welfare attitudes and behaviours remains largely undescribed. This study evaluated the effects of an hour-long dog welfare workshop delivered to children aged 7-11, evaluating 2732 learners in state primary schools across the UK. Two types of workshop were evaluated; "Be Dog Smart" (BDS) and "Responsible Dog Ownership" (RDO). This study assessed short-term impact on attitude outcomes, as a first step in developing a full education monitoring and evaluation framework. Learners within each class were randomly assigned to two groups; one completing an attitude-based questionnaire before (control) and the other after the workshop (treatment). Dog ownership status, age, gender, and social deprivation (measured as access to free school meals) were collected for all participants. Questionnaire scores were compared between treatment and control groups. Mean scores were significantly different (BDS p<0.001; Cohen's D 0.65; RDO p<0.001; Cohen's D 0.51) between control (BDS 13.57 ± 3.15; RDO 22.97 ± 4.78) and treatment groups (BDS 15.61 ± 3.10; RDO 25.47 ± 5.06) for both workshops, suggesting workshops effectively convey key messages and improve learner attitudes concerning dogs. Gender, age and social deprivation were found to significantly influence questionnaire responses. These findings contribute to a broader effort to improve canine welfare via childhood education while also demonstrating the feasibility of effective monitoring and evaluation during operational delivery of a schools workshop programme. Ongoing impact assessment is important in ensuring successful development, delivery and refinement of educational programmes to maximise the probabilty of positive changes in participants. Further work is needed to evaluate longer term impact, and ensure that desired influences on human behaviour change, and animal welfare, are achieved.

Human Behaviour Change Interventions in Animal Care and Interactive Settings: A Review and Framework for Design and Evaluation

“…Two studies utilised the Theory of Change approach [ 47 , 66 ] which is characterised by first defining a long-term goal before mapping backwards the steps required to reach that goal. The application of this theory by Utami et al [ 47 ] demonstrated the proposed relationships between target owner behaviours (‘guardians take good care of dogs’ and ‘dogs are presented for vaccination’ p. 3) and their ultimate goal (rabies control), but did not incorporate antecedents of the target behaviours.…”

“…Therefore, they did not articulate the mechanism of change, i.e., how the intervention would change behaviour. Baatz et al [ 66 ] utilised the same Theory of Change approach, but incorporated attitude and knowledge change into their change model. In this way, they clearly articulated their hypothesised change mechanism; the two interventions would increase specific areas of knowledge which would in turn change specific attitudes and behaviours, leading to their ultimate goal that ‘every dog can enjoy a happy life free from the threat of unnecessary destruction’ (p. 3).…”

“…These were typically pre–post studies, but they were often not paired within subject designs. Multiple studies assessed some of the cohort before the intervention and some of them afterwards, suggesting that the before group acted as a control [ 38 , 66 ]. However, this is not a true control group.…”

“…Lectures/information sessions on animal behaviour [48,52] and nutrition [44] Information on animal needs [52,66,69,70], animal husbandry [34,35,41,54,69] and animal disease [43,44,53,54,83] Information on animal welfare issues [38,51], Five Freedoms, and definitions of cruelty [69,84] Leaflet on common animal diseases and prevention measures [43] Increasing knowledge and changing beliefs (TPB, SCogT, IMB)…”

“…Information about what circumstances led to the dog bite incidents [85] Information on production/financial gains/losses of adopting the recommended behaviours [36,49,50,57] Showing video footage of how aversive handling techniques impact ease of handling and production [49,50,57] Highlighting the benefits of a stable, neutered cat population and how trap-neuter-release programs can achieve this [41] explained in [65] Video demonstrating safe and unsafe outcomes of interactive behaviours with dogs [59][60][61] Veterinarian reviewed benefits of owners engaging in physical activity with their dog (unclear whether benefits were for human or dog) [43] Video footage of appropriate and inappropriate handling behaviours and accompanying behavioural responses by animal [49,50,57] Real examples of what happened to the dog following a dog bite incident [85] Real examples of severity of dog bite injury and how it was treated [85] Explain the consequences that follow from particular actions, including severe consequences. Can change attitudes (TPB, SCogT, IMB) AM1 Provide information about behaviour-health link AM2 Provide information on consequences (also K35 K36) Fear appeals (emphasising susceptibility to severe consequences) Provide information on consequences for animals Putting themselves in animals' shoes (how would you feel) [66] Through dramatization, children explore the idea that animals have feelings [84] Associate the needs of animals with their own needs [70] Role playing and imagination exercises to build empathy [70] Highlighting how animals may experience the consequence of carers' actions and that they have emotional responses…”