Opinions towards Companion Animals and Their Welfare: A Survey of Croatian Veterinary Students

Mikuš, Tomislav; Ostović, Mario; Sabolek, Ivana; Matković, Kristina; Pavičić, Željko; Mikuš, Ornella; Mesić, Željka

doi:10.3390/ani10020199

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Similar results have been reported by Mikuš et al (2020), showing that veterinary students in Croatia perceived dogs and cats as animals highly capable of cognition and sentience, while giving indecisive responses related to welfare compromise in these animals kept as pets. In their study, the majority of student responses did not differ significantly between first and sixth year of study or before and after having attending the animal welfare subject in first-year students.…”

Section: O N L I N E F I R S Tsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…The survey was approved by the Faculty Board on Quality Management. More detailed description of the participants and questionnaire is available elsewhere (Ostović et al, 2016;Ostovic et al, 2017;Mikuš et al, 2020;Sabolek et al, 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The World Organization for Animal Health recommends that "veterinarians should be the leading advocates for the welfare of all animals, recognizing the key contribution that animals make to human society through food production, companionship, biomedical research, and education" (OIE, 2012). As attitudes can influence future behaviours (Glasman & Albarracin, 2006), research into veterinarian attitudes, including those of veterinary students, towards animal welfare are assuming increasing importance (Mikuš et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sheep and goat welfare in Croatia: Assessing veterinary student attitudes

et al. 2021

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Research into the veterinary perception of animal welfare is becoming ever more relevant. Following previous studies on Croatian veterinary students? attitudes and opinions towards farm animal and pet welfare, the present study assessed their attitudes towards sheep and goat welfare, focusing on the year of veterinary medicine study and area of student residence. The questionnaire survey involved students of all six years of the integrated undergraduate and graduate study programme at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. First-year students filled out the questionnaire twice, before and after having attended the animal welfare subject. The questionnaire consisted of two sections. The first section included questions on student demographic and experiential characteristics, whereas the second section asked them to define the level of cognition, sentience and welfare compromise in sheep and goats through five-point Likert scale questions. Study results revealed that students agreed that sheep and goats have cognitive abilities and feelings, but they neither agreed nor disagreed about their welfare compromise. There was no significant difference in student responses according to years of study or between first-year student responses before and after having attended the animal welfare subject or according to areas of student residence. These results could suggest poor student interaction with small ruminants and, therefore, help expand the respective curriculum.

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Section: O N L I N E F I R S Tsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sheep and goat welfare in Croatia: Assessing veterinary student attitudes

et al. 2021

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“…During the third step, consisting of the selection of the participants (P-set), we constructed a purposive sample [103,114] of 36 veterinary students who had completed the first three years of studies and were attending the first year of a master's degree in animal production. This was justified by their strong knowledge of animal welfare and their familiarity with the various facets of animal husbandry [115][116][117][118][119][120]. They have the potential to influence the meaning of animal welfare in the future by becoming stakeholders or being involved in policy processes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Attitudes toward Animal Welfare through the Lens of Subjectivity—An Application of Q-Methodology

Vecchio

Pauselli

Adinolfi

2020

Animals

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Opinions increasingly influence legislative processes. The case of animal welfare (AW) standards is a clear example of the role played by opinions in political decisions. The issue, to which European citizens have historically been sensitive, has been the subject of numerous consultations and investigations, aimed at considering citizens’ opinions regarding breeding conditions. However, these tools and in particular standard surveys, suffer from response biases such as the prejudices involved in the design of questions and the interpretation of the results. To mitigate these problems, we used the Q-methodology, which is an inductive but systematic methodology focused on patterns that explain the ideas of individuals. The purposive sample consisted of 36 veterinary students who were acquiring scientific knowledge about AW. The results, in addition to providing policymakers with food for thought for the further development of AW standards, contribute to testing the use of alternative methodologies to collect citizens’ views. This mapping of viewpoints helps to build a more effective form of AW policy making.

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“…Veterinarians are expected to have a leading role in ensuring and promoting animal welfare [ 1 ] but their perception of animal welfare may differ depending on animal observed. For instance, veterinary attitudes and opinions, including those of veterinary students in Croatia [ 2 , 3 ] have been shown to be more positive toward pet dogs and cats than toward farm animals [ 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Survey Study of Veterinary Student Opinions and Knowledge about Pet Reptiles and Their Welfare

Ostović

Sabolek

Piplica

et al. 2021

Animals

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Exotic pet medicine is rapidly evolving, with reptiles becoming increasingly popular pet animals. Yet, there are only a few literature reports on veterinary perception of reptiles kept as pets. The aim of the study was to assess opinions and knowledge of the Croatian veterinarians-to-be about pet reptiles and their welfare. The questionnaire survey was conducted in the academic year 2019–2020 and included students of all six years of the integrated undergraduate and graduate study at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb. First-year students were surveyed twice, before and after having attended the compulsory course on animal welfare. Questionnaire statements were 5-point Likert scale questions, requiring the students to express their opinions about turtles, lizards and snakes as pets, issues related to their welfare, risks they pose to the health and safety of humans, other animals and the environment, and their self-reported knowledge about pet reptiles. Although expressing higher opinions after having attended the course on animal welfare, first-year student responses remained neutral to most of the statements. Such a trend continued until the end of the study. Student responses revealed that they were uncertain about their knowledge of reptiles as pets, considering different educational areas observed. Study results emphasised the need of alterations in veterinary curriculum and additional student education in reptile medicine. The results obtained have broad implications involving not only the welfare of pet reptiles in clinical practice and elsewhere but also the health and safety of humans and other animals, as well as environmental protection.

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Opinions towards Companion Animals and Their Welfare: A Survey of Croatian Veterinary Students

Cited by 8 publications

References 65 publications

Sheep and goat welfare in Croatia: Assessing veterinary student attitudes

Sheep and goat welfare in Croatia: Assessing veterinary student attitudes

Exploring Attitudes toward Animal Welfare through the Lens of Subjectivity—An Application of Q-Methodology

A Survey Study of Veterinary Student Opinions and Knowledge about Pet Reptiles and Their Welfare

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