Abstract
Simple SummaryCollege students, specifically from veterinary, animal, agricultural, and life sciences majors represent the future professionals who will closely work with animal industry stakeholders. Therefore, it is important to understand their attitudes towards animals and their knowledge about animal welfare. A survey on Chinese college students was conducted across different majors and Chinese geographical regions to understand their attitude towards the animal Sentient and the Five Freedoms models for pets, laboratory, farm, and wild animals. Most of the respondents exhibited a good attitude towards both the animal Sentient and the Five Freedoms models, with best scoring for pet animals followed by wild animals. Respondents showed less concerns towards farm and laboratory animals. A previous animal welfare education, the ownership of animals, and the participation in laboratory work involving animals positively influenced the attitude of the respondents towards animal welfare. These experiences might have helped students to develop concerns towards the animals’ treatment. When compared to previous studies, our results suggest that Chinese college students improved their attitudes towards animals in recent years. Understanding the attitude of stakeholders towards animals is critical for the development and improvement of animal welfare in a country. College students from veterinary, animal, and life sciences majors represent future key stakeholders that will interact with professionals from animal industries. Therefore, it is critical to understand these college students’ attitudes towards animals and their knowledge about animal welfare. The present survey aimed to investigate Chinese college students’ concerns towards different animal classes (i.e., pets, farm, laboratory, and wild animals) through the animal Sentient and Five Freedoms models. Chinese college students from different majors (i.e., related to animal sciences or not) scored very well in their attitude towards both the animal Sentient and Five Freedoms models, with differences depending on the animal class considered. Pets (dogs and cats) had better consideration for both animal Sentient and Five Freedoms models, followed by wild animals, while farm and laboratory animals were less considered. Veterinary science major students showed the strongest differences in attitudes depending on the animal classes considered compared to other majors. Furthermore, respondents showed better attitude scoring if they currently owned or had owned animals, had participated in animal welfare courses, or in laboratory work that involved animals. When compared to previous studies, our results suggest a general improvement of Chinese college students’ attitudes towards animals.
Highlights
Animal welfare has attracted increased media attention in recent years, with society becoming more aware about the link between animals’ well-being and human health and the impact of the livestock industry on the environment [1]
A total of 5795 completed questionnaires were collected. 77.1% of the students supported the idea that animals have sentient characteristics, while 2.7% did not agree at all. 76.8% of the students agreed that animals should be guaranteed basic animal welfare standards, while only 2.7% did not support animal welfare at all
Similar results were found for the Five Freedoms model, with more concerns towards pets (79%), and wild animals (79%), followed by farm animals
Summary
Animal welfare has attracted increased media attention in recent years, with society becoming more aware about the link between animals’ well-being and human health and the impact of the livestock industry on the environment [1]. The Five Freedoms model was first formulated to describe the broader dimensions of animal welfare by incorporating subjective experiences, health status, and behavior [3,4,5]. The animal Sentient model refers to the notion that animals experience an array of emotions, from pain and suffering to pleasure and joy [6]. EU legally recognized animals as sentient beings since the enactment of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007 [7], and till 32 countries have formally recognized non-human animals as sentient beings in their legislation [8]. Animal welfare is independent of the country where the animals are raised, but approaches to animal welfare may differ among countries in relation to how different animal species are perceived [9]
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