Abstract
Simple SummaryPublic perception of animal well-being, and pet animal well-being in particular, remains a significant point of contention. This study ranks prominent animal welfare and veterinary care organizations’ perceived impact on pet animal well-being and health care based on U.S. residents’ perceptions, while explicitly accounting for variation between pet-owning and non-pet-owning households. Results suggest that the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is perceived as the most impactful organization followed by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Humane Association (AHA) were tied for third most impactful. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the American Pet Products Association (APPA) were tied for fourth most impactful while Banfield was perceived as the least impactful.U.S. residents’ perceptions of the impact of prominent animal welfare and veterinary care organizations on pet animal well-being and health care may not be linked to the organization’s stated mission and effectiveness in advancing it, but to the level of recognition people have for the groups. An online survey of 1000 U.S. residents was used to understand the perceived impact of organizations with self-stated dedication to pet animal well-being. Using a Likert-scale, respondents ranked 13 prominent organizations as having a low to high impact on pet animal well-being and health care. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) had the highest perceived average impact, while People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had the lowest. A best–worst scaling (BWS) choice experiment was conducted with 7 of the initial 13 organizations to elicit relative rankings by forcing tradeoffs by respondents. Consistent with the Likert-scale results, the ASPCA was ranked as the most impactful organization. The ASPCA’s perceived impact on pet animal well-being and health care may be linked to their high level of recognition among respondents, as this was the organization that respondents most frequently reported having seen/heard stories related to animal well-being and health care.
Highlights
Public perceptions of animal well-being and health care are the focus of increasing debate
This is consistent with a related study where out of seven prominent animal welfare organizations, Mercy for Animals (MFA) and Compassion Over Killing had the fewest respondents indicating that they have heard/seen animal welfare stories from [11]. Respondents indicated that they have seen/heard stories related to animal well-being and health care the most from the ASPCA followed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
The results suggest that the ASPCA’s perceived level of impact on pet animal welfare and well-being is accompanied with a high level of trust when it comes to other pet animal topics such as breeding-dog welfare
Summary
Public perceptions of animal well-being and health care are the focus of increasing debate. U.S. residents can access information on animal well-being and health care from different sources: word of mouth, television, veterinarians, the Internet and, and increasingly, popular social. The treatment of farm animals is a central concern for livestock and poultry producers, not an isolated activist debate anymore [4]. U.S residents’ concern for animal welfare gave rise to different non-profit and for-profit organizations focused on animal well-being and health care for pet animals and animals raised for food (i.e., livestock and poultry industries). Previous studies have questioned whether people utilize different organizations as information sources because they are more trusted than others or because they are more accessible or recognizable than others [5]
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