Attitudes toward Animals and Their Welfare among Italian Veterinary Students

Federica Pirrone,Claudio Sighieri,Mariangela Albertini,Chiara Mariti,Silvana Diverio,Angelo Gazzano

doi:10.3390/vetsci6010019

Federica Pirrone, Claudio Sighieri + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci6010019

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Abstract

As members of the public and the veterinary profession are increasingly concerned about animal welfare, there has been an increased scholarly interest in the attitudes of veterinarians and students toward animals, as these may impact human behavior, which ultimately impacts animal welfare. Here we investigated Italian veterinary students’ demographic data and perceptions about nonhuman animal welfare issues that might be predictive of their attitudes. A survey eliciting information about demographics, knowledge, experience, and perceptions regarding different categories of animals, and including the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS), was administered to undergraduate veterinary medicine students in three Italian universities. Data were analyzed using nonparametric tests, and a value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. In total, 876 students completed the questionnaire, with females (75.1%) making up a majority of students in all years of the course. Although veterinary students showed pro-animal welfare attitudes (mean score = 64.20 ± 0.24 out of 100), the findings suggested that year of study, gender, and geographical location had a significant impact (p < 0.05). In this study, we found a set of factors that, either individually or combined, help predict a student’s attitude toward animal welfare issues, which will be useful in improving the curriculum strategy in veterinary education in Italy.

Highlights

Veterinarians have an ethical and professional obligation to respect, safeguard, and promote animal welfare [1]
This study explored differences attitudes to animals and animal in Italian veterinary students across gender, yearin level, geographical provenance, and welfare location issues of the university veterinary students across level, geographical provenance, and location of the university attended
We previously found a tendency for this sample of veterinary students to place less importance on the psychological aspects of the welfare of livestock than of companion animals, and to show a low Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) score if they were mostly familiar with, or aspired to work with, livestock [11]

Summary

Introduction

Veterinarians have an ethical and professional obligation to respect, safeguard, and promote animal welfare [1]. In Italy and other countries, veterinarians take a professional oath, swearing to use their skills and knowledge for the benefit of animal health and welfare. Attitudes toward animals are important in influencing the way animals are treated [2], and several studies have indicated how a variety of factors, such as gender [3,4], disease state [5], professional discipline [6], perceived responsibility, keeping of a pet, membership in a society [4], and country of residence [7] may influence attitudes and sensitivities of a veterinary practitioner toward animal welfare issues. Veterinarian attitudes toward animal welfare derive, at least partially, from their training [8,9], and veterinary students are expected to demonstrate a high degree of professional interest in the welfare of animals. Relatively few studies are available in the scientific literature focusing on veterinary students [11], and they are all cross-sectional studies

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