Abstract
Simple SummaryConsumer perceptions on animal welfare have been assessed, providing results that are necessary for the development of policies and legislation regarding animal welfare standards. In Latin America, societal concerns and specifically consumers’ concerns about animal welfare are increasing but so far, the interest of university students on this subject has received little attention. The objectives of this study were to determine differences on knowledge and perception on animal welfare (with emphasis on dairy cattle) from undergraduate students from two universities with different missions and visions and between students from different faculties. Undergraduate students from the two main Chilean universities were surveyed. Overall, this study showed that University only affected the source of animal welfare information used by undergraduate students and some perceptions on dairy cows’ welfare. On the other hand, Faculty did affect most of the variables on awareness, knowledge and perception towards animal welfare. Thus, the knowledge background provided by the faculty of students has a greater influence on their knowledge and perceptions about animal welfare than their university.The objectives of this study were to determine differences in knowledge and perception of animal welfare (with emphasis on dairy cattle) among undergraduate students from two universities with different missions and visions and between students from different faculties. One thousand surveys were obtained from Universidad de Chile (UChile; n = 500) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC; n = 500) students. The students from both universities were from the following faculties: Agronomy, Architecture, Biology, Economic Sciences, Psychology, Law, Philosophy, Basic Education, Civil Engineering and Medicine. The majority (77%) of students from both universities were aware of animal welfare. Most (56%) students understand animal welfare as the ‘mental and physical state of animals’. Regardless of their faculty, around 97% of the total respondents perceived animal welfare as important for production systems. Regarding specific knowledge about cows’ welfare related to milk management and behavior, students from Economic Sciences, Psychology, Law, Philosophy, Basic Education, and Civil Engineering had less (p < 0.001) self-reported knowledge about cows’ basic behavior and specific management practices such as milking and were more negative in their perceptions of dairy production. Overall, results showed that the students’ faculty explained most of the differences among undergraduate students in relation to their perceptions and knowledge about animal welfare. Our data is important, as undergraduate students will make purchasing and power decisions as well as having potential influence on future policies that could modify the animal production industry.
Highlights
Public interest and concern for animal welfare has increased significantly in recent decades and have led to significant changes such as the development and implementation of the “five freedoms” in developed countries [1,2,3]
The following faculties were included: Agronomy, Architecture, Biology, Economic Sciences, Psychology, Law, Philosophy, Basic Education, Civil Engineering, and Medicine, since these faculties are present in both universities
The Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) sample included slightly more male respondents, whereas slightly more women were included in the Universidad de Chile (UChile) sample
Summary
Public interest and concern for animal welfare has increased significantly in recent decades and have led to significant changes such as the development and implementation of the “five freedoms” in developed countries [1,2,3]. Most of the studies carried out point to animal welfare and ethics from a productive perspective in which professionals involved in the field are surveyed, evaluated and interviewed [2,3,4]. Consumer perceptions on animal welfare have been assessed, providing results that are necessary for the development of policies and legislation regarding animal welfare standards [5]. In Latin America, societal concerns [6] and consumers’ concerns about animal welfare are increasing [7,8,9] but so far, the interest of university students on this subject has received little attention. Students could have a positive influence on policy makers who have the opportunity to shape the animal production industry
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