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Dairy farmer attitudes and empathy toward animals are associated with animal welfare indicators.

Kielland C. Skjerve E. Osteras O. Zanella AJ. Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, 0033 Oslo, Norway.

Journal of Dairy Science. 93(7):2998-3006, 2010 Jul.

Attitudes and empathy of farmers influence human-animal interaction, thereby affecting their behavior toward animals. The goal was to investigate how measures of attitude and empathy toward animals were associated with animal welfare indicators such as milk yield, mastitis incidence, fertility index, and the prevalence of skin lesions on cows. To assess empathy toward animals, a photo-based pain assessment instrument was developed depicting various conditions that could be associated with some degree of pain in cattle and included questions aimed at assessing attitudes toward animals. Photos of painful conditions are useful in eliciting measurable empathic responses to pain in humans. A total of 221 farmers were sampled via e-mail and 154 responses were obtained. In the first analysis, farmers were categorized into 2 groups according to their agreement or disagreement with the attitude statement "animals experience physical pain as humans do." In the second analysis, farmers were assigned a median pain assessment score obtained from their estimates on the visual analog scale of 21 conditions assumed painful for cattle. In the third analysis, farmers were clustered in 3 groups according to their visual analog scale responses. Three conditions were ranked as the most painful: fracture of tuber coxae, dystocia, and serious mastitis. Farmers with positive attitudes toward animals scored 2 points higher on their empathy score compared with farmers with negative attitudes. Personal experience with each additional condition resulted in a 0.09 higher score. Cluster analysis revealed 3 groups. Farmers in group 3 had the highest median pain assessment score (6.7+/-0.2), indicating a high level of empathy and a positive attitude toward animals. They had the lowest prevalence of skin lesions over the carpus (24+/-6%) and the lowest milk production (6,705+/-202kg). The complex associations between indicators of empathy and attitudes with relevant welfare outcomes suggest that competence building to safeguard animal welfare could benefit from including both attitudes and empathy in human-animal interactions studies.

The association between pet care and deviant household behaviors in an Afro-Caribbean, college student community in New Providence, The Bahamas.

Fielding, W. J.; Plumridge, S.;

Anthrozoos. 2010. 23: 1, 69-78.

The link between domestic violence, both at the household and personal levels, other deviant behaviors, and pet care was observed through survey responses from 641 college students in New Providence, The Bahamas. The "link" with domestic violence at the household level was found both when pets were intentionally harmed and when pets were "not well cared for," and between the respondent being a victim of domestic violence and the intentional harm of pets. The prevalence of alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, illegal drug use, and the presence of a convicted criminal in the household were higher in households where animals were intentionally harmed; similar results were seen when animals were not well cared for. Violence as a means of disciplining pets was common. The data suggest that within an Afro-Caribbean society, cross-reporting may be beneficial in identifying households at greater risk of domestic violence, through careful monitoring of animal care as well as intentional cruelty. Educating pet caregivers to train animals non-violently may be a way of reducing violence towards domestic pets and, possibly, humans.

Nathanson, J. N.

  Nathanson, J. N.

Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 65, No. 3, 2009, pp. 589--614

Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 65, No. 3, 2009, pp. 569--587

Wensley, Sean P.  seanwensley@hotmail.com

Journal of Veterinary Medical Education.  35(4):532-9, 2008.

Consideration of the human-animal bond typically focuses on the benefits of companion animals to human health and well-being, but it is essential that in realizing these benefits the welfare needs of the animals, both physical and mental, are also met. Positive emotional relationships with animals are likely to increase recognition of animal sentience and so help create positive attitudes toward animals at the societal level, but, at the individual level, the animals to which humans are bonded should also benefit from the human-animal relationship. A strong human-animal bond may benefit animal welfare (e.g., by motivating an owner to commit time and funds to necessary veterinary medical treatment), but may also be the source of compromised welfare. Highly bonded owners may, for example, be reluctant to permit euthanasia on humane grounds, and the anthropomorphic nature of many human-companion animal bonds can contribute to the development of problem behaviors and obesity.  The challenge for the veterinary profession is to ensure that widespread positive sentiment toward animals, which the human-animal bond generates, is translated in to human behavior and actions that are conducive to good animal welfare. This, it is suggested, can be achieved through adequate veterinary education in veterinary and animal welfare science, ethics, and communication.

Preylo, Brooke Dixon; Arikawa, Hiroko

Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals, Volume 21, Number 4, December 2008 , pp. 387-395

Past research found that positive attitudes toward animals are positively correlated with human-directed empathy. One of the most common reasons for becoming a vegetarian is to avoid cruelty toward animals. Based on the above literature, we hypothesized that vegetarians, especially moral vegetarians, would show higher human-directed empathy and more positive attitudes toward pets and other animals than non-vegetarians. Seventy-two vegetarians and 67 non-vegetarians participated in the study. Pet attitudes were measured using the modified Pet Attitude Scale (PAS-M), and human-directed empathy was measured with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), which has four subscales. Vegetarian males had significantly higher empathy and significantly more positive attitudes toward pets compared with non-vegetarian males; however, there was no differences among females. There were no differences between moral vegetarians and non-moral vegetarians on human-directed empathy and attitude toward pets. Empathy toward humans and attitudes toward pets were positively correlated for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. We conceptualized the dietary choice of a vegetarian as a lifestyle that can be explained by their political thinking, personality, and personal value systems.

Mellor, David; Yeow, James; bt Mamat, Norul Hidayah; bt Mohd Hapidzal, Noor Fizlee

Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals, Volume 21, Number 4, December 2008 , pp. 363-374

In Western research, cruelty to animals in childhood has been associated with comorbid conduct problems and with interpersonal violence in later life. However, there is little understanding of the etiology of cruelty to animals, and what in the child's life may require attention if the chain linking animal cruelty and later violence is to be broken. The study reported in this paper investigated the association between parent-reported cruelty to animals, and parent- and self-reported psychological strengths and weaknesses in a sample of 379 elementary school children in an Eastern context, Malaysia. No gender differences were found in relation to cruelty to animals or psychological problems, as assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). However, there were different predictors of cruelty to animals for boys and girls. Regression analyses found that for boys, parent-reported hyperactivity was a unique predictor of Malicious and Total Cruelty to animals. For girls, self-reported conduct problems was a unique predictor of Typical Cruelty to animals. Parent-reported total difficulties were associated with Typical, Malicious, and Total Cruelty to animals. We suggest that routine screening of children with an instrument such as the SDQ may help to detect those children who may need to undergo further assessment and perhaps intervention to break the chain linking childhood cruelty to animals and later conduct problems.

Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research

Volume 3, Issue 2, Pages 87-94 (March 2008)

 Elisabetta Piva, DVMab, Valentina Liverani, DVMc, Pier Attilio Accorsi, DVMd, Giuseppe Sarli, DVMe, Gualtiero Gandini, DVMf

This study evaluates whether a shelter dog could be rehomed successfully into a facility for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD). The goal was to assess the effect on animal welfare of this form of pet ownership and of individual sessions of animal assisted activity (AAA) with some pre-selected patients. After the enrollment of a suitable shelter dog, the dog was introduced gradually into the facility. Upon adoption, the dog's welfare was monitored during the first 6 months by integrating indirect assessment (18-item questionnaire) with direct observations of behavioral and clinical responses (31-item score system table), and with an assay of hormonal changes. Only descriptive statistics were done on the questionnaire data. The findings suggest a progressive positive integration into the new environment. The qualitative data using direct observations were analyzed with the Spearman Rank order correlation test. Some data showed significant variation during the period of observation, suggesting a gradual reduction of the dog's stress during AAA sessions. The hormonal trend, especially for cortisol measured in hair, seemed to correlate with the clinical and behavioral findings.