Attitudes toward Animals among Kindergarten Children: Species Preferences

ABSTRACT

Attitudes toward animals are influenced by both animal traits (e.g., similarity to humans, aesthetic quality, size) and individual human attributes (e.g., gender, age, educational level, cultural factors). Although the examination of children's interest in animals, and their preference for different species, may evidence specific trends and help explain the development of attitudes, the vast majority of research has not considered children younger than 6 years. The present study was aimed at assessing preferences for a variety of animal species in a sample of 3–6 year-old Italian children, using a forced-choice task and visual aids (images of the animals). Pictures of 48 animal species, ranging from mammals to invertebrates, were presented to the children. Two photographic stimuli were simultaneously displayed and participants were asked to indicate their preference. Results show that the children preferred higher-order species, and domestic over wild animals. Apart from a few exceptions, invertebrates were the most disliked group of species among the children. Girls showed more negative and fear-related attitudes than the boys. Results are discussed taking into account different factors that may affect children's preferences for various animal species, that is, similarity to humans and aesthetical appeal. Greater knowledge on early attitudes toward animals has implications for promoting interest in animals and for building educational interventions for kindergarten children. This is particularly important in light of the growing use of different animals in educational and therapeutic contexts, as well as from an animal welfare perspective.     

Attitudes toward Animals: A Study of Portuguese Children

In this study we analyzed the attitudes toward different animals in 210 Portuguese children: 107 boys and 103 girls, aged between 8 and 10 years, attending the 3rd and 4th years of primary school. We used a questionnaire with two distinct parts. In the first part, the children were asked about the degree to which they liked 25 different animals, using a scale ranging from ?7 (strongly dislike) to 7 (like very much), and to give their reasons for the value attributed. In the second part, they were asked whether in the event of the animals being threatened with extinction, it would be important to save any of them. We also asked for the reasons for their opinion. The most popular animals were big mammals and also birds. Certain gender differences were present, with boys preferring predators and other animals with a traditionally bad image, like bats and sharks. The most disliked animals were insects, but also those that were thought of as a danger to humans. However, we found a moderate positive correlation between liking and saving an animal, although this was lower in the case of the girls toward several animals. This shows that a negative perception of an animal does not always mean a negative attitude toward it. In part, the reasons for liking an animal were different from the reasons for saving it. All the results are important for the design of primary school teaching activities involving animals, including the fact that some reasons that the children gave revealed a lack of knowledge about the meaning of certain behaviors of the animals and of their ecological role.     

Attitudes toward Animals among German Children and Adolescents

ABSTRACT

This is the first study about attitudes toward animals among German children and adolescents. A sample of 543 pupils (261 boys, 282 girls) aged 11 to 17 (mean age = 13.37 ± 2.01 years) completed a questionnaire based on different established scales, for example, the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) and the Intermediate Attitude Scale (IAS). Several aspects of attitudes toward animals and various dimensions of human–animal relationships were measured, including gender, age, grade, pet ownership, animal-related activities, meat consumption, and fear of and disgust toward animals. Gender and age were important factors in determining attitudes toward animals: pro-animal attitudes decreased with age and girls showed more positive attitudes compared with boys. Pet ownership and animal-related activities were associated with more positive attitudes toward animals, whilst meat consumption was related to lower pro-animal attitudes. There were no correlations between fear and general attitudes toward animals. The correlations between disgust and attitudes toward animals were weak. We found significant correlations among the different scales and subscales in animal attitudes.     

Effects of Having Pets at Home on Children's Attitudes toward Popular and Unpopular Animals

ABSTRACT

Having pets at home provides various social, health, and educational benefits to children. The question of how keeping pets at home affects the attitudes of children toward wild animals still has not been answered, due to various methodological issues, such as ignorance of some attitude dimensions and/or questionnaires that include items focused on very different animals. We conducted three independent research surveys (using three independent samples) of Slovakian primary school children aged 10 to 15 years (n = 1297). These surveys focused on the effects of keeping pets on the attitudes of children towards, and knowledge of, three unpopular animals in Slovakia. These animals were pests (potato beetle) (Study 1), predators (wolf) (Study 2), and those that pose a threat of disease to humans (mouse) (Study 3). Each survey also included a popular animal (ladybird beetle, rabbit, and squirrel, respectively), which served as a “control”; these were compared by pair-wise statistics. Results consistently showed that children had better knowledge of, but less favorable attitudes towards, unpopular animals compared with popular ones. Having pets at home was associated with more positive attitudes to, and better knowledge of, both popular and unpopular animals. Girls were less favorably inclined than boys to animals that may pose a threat, danger, or disease to them. Implications for humane education are discussed, especially in terms of keeping pets, the link between knowledge and attitudes, and children's understanding of ecological adaptations.     

How Ethical Ideologies Relate to Public Attitudes toward Animals: The Dutch Case

Ethical ideologies, which include dimensions of idealism and relativism, are often involved in the process of decision-making regarding operational and economic research. However, the study of the role of ethical ideologies concerning public attitudes toward animals has been largely neglected. The present study analyzed how ethical ideologies and their interaction with human demographics relate to public attitudes toward animals in the Netherlands. The Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ) was used to assess respondents’ ethical ideologies and their relationship with attitudes toward animals, which were measured by the Animal Issue Scale (AIS) and the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS). The results demonstrated that respondents’ gender and age were both significantly associated with attitudes toward animals, although gender showed a stronger correlation than age. Absolutists and situationists tended to show greater concern for animals than did exceptionists and subjectivists. Public attitudes toward animals were found to be significantly related to idealism; this confirms previous findings in the United States and China. Consistent with some previous findings in the United States, no significant correlation between relativism and public attitudes toward animals was found among Dutch respondents. However, this finding is inconsistent with findings in China indicating that relativism was negatively related to people’s attitudes toward animals. Our study indicates that the correlation between idealism and attitudes toward animals is the same in different countries, while the correlation between relativism and attitudes toward animals differs between developed and developing countries.     

Public Attitudes toward the Use of Animals in Research: Effects of Invasiveness,Genetic Modification and Regulation

ABSTRACT

This study describes an online public engagement experiment aimed at investigating how acceptance of animal-based research is affected by: (a) the presence of regulations that govern the use of nonhuman animals in laboratories, (b) the invasiveness of procedures, and (c) the use of genetically modified (GM) animals. To meet these aims, participants were asked if they were willing to accept the use of pigs in different scenarios involving agricultural research. Two-thirds of the 681 participants were female and the majority (58%) were young (19–29 years old) with college or university level education (62%). Participants came from 26 different countries, with the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom being the top three countries represented. Participants who self-identified as being vegetarians, familiar with animal welfare, animal advocates, environmental advocates, and familiar with animal research were significantly more likely to be opposed to animal-based research. Older participants were significantly less likely to oppose animal-based research. Support significantly decreased when animal-based research involved an invasive procedure or GM animals. Support for invasive research significantly increased when regulation was in place, but regulation had less effect on acceptance of GM animal use. Comments provided by participants illustrated different decision-making strategies regarding different types of animal-based research. Given the increasing use of GM animals in research, more effort is required to understand people's concerns regarding this type of animal use and to determine how these concerns should be reflected in policy.     

Slovakian Pupils' Knowledge of,and Attitudes toward,Birds

ABSTRACT

As the world's biodiversity is being destroyed, costs for nature protection activities increase. One proposed way to increase people's pro-environmental attitudes is to increase their knowledge base. It has been suggested that knowledge and attitudes are related, but no consensus in this field yet exists. Thus, the investigation of the relationship between attitudes and knowledge has valuable implications for nature protection programs. In this paper, we investigated relationships between Slovakian grammar school pupils' attitudes to, and knowledge of, birds (n = 402 participants aged 10–19 years). We found that factual knowledge about birds was positively related to pupils' attitudes toward birds. Interestingly, younger pupils had better knowledge of birds than older pupils. Regarding attitudes, higher scores were registered for the Concern for Birds and Avoidance of Birds dimensions than the Interest in Birds dimension. Females showed more positive attitudes in the Avoidance of Birds dimension compared with males, and bird owners scored higher in the Interest in Birds dimension and lower in the Concern for Birds dimension compared with non-bird owners. Implications for nature protection programs are discussed.     

Attitudes towards assistance dogs in Japan and the UK: a comparison of college students studying animal care

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that the primary problems associated with ownership of assistance dogs lie not with the dogs themselves, but with people's attitudes and behavior towards them, including interference with the dog while it is working, and denial of access to public facilities. However, there has been little systematic study of the attitudes of the general public towards assistance dogs. Our study was carried out to compare the knowledge and attitudes of young people in Japan and the UK towards assistance dogs, in order to provide a basis for the future development of assistance dog provision in Japan.

Forty-four Japanese and 42 British college students completed questionnaires in which they were asked about their knowledge of, and attitudes towards, assistance dogs. A similar percentage (about 20%) of the British and Japanese students reported that they were unhappy about allowing the dogs access to places where food is sold. However, the British participants were more likely to be positive about the idea of using dogs to assist people with disabilities than were the Japanese. Attitudes towards assistance dogs varied among the Japanese students. Some considered assistance dogs happier than pet dogs, because pet dogs are sometimes neglected, while others expressed sympathy for assistance dogs because they are strictly trained and exploited by humans. When asked their opinions about the idea of using dogs as assistance dogs, 98% of the British students, but only 41% of the Japanese students, agreed with the idea. Our results suggest that perception of assistance dogs, and also understanding of the well-being of people with disabilities, were both more well-informed and realistic among the British students than among the Japanese students.     

Attitudes of Dutch Citizens toward Sow Husbandry with Regard to Animals,Humans, and the Environment

The pig industry is struggling with negative attitudes of people toward sow husbandry. To be able to respond to these attitudes, the pig industry first has to understand people’s attitudes. The first objective of this study was to determine the attitudes of Dutch people toward sow husbandry with regard to animals, humans, and the environment. The second objective was to group people based on their attitudes toward sow husbandry and determine and compare the socio-demographic characteristics of these groups. An online survey was conducted in the Netherlands and there were 1,607 respondents. On average, respondents had negative attitudes toward all issues defined in this study. The most negative attitudes were toward the effect on both animals and consumers of the use of antibiotics, the number of animals kept per square meter, the possibility for animals to go outside, food safety risks, public health risks, and environmental waste. The findings indicate the importance of considering all the issues identified in this study during the process of developing measures to improve people’s attitudes toward sow husbandry. Respondents could be divided into four clusters; each cluster represented different attitudes toward sow husbandry and had different socio-demographic characteristics. This makes it possible for the pig industry to assign people with specific socio-demographic characteristics to one of the clusters and predict their attitudes toward sow husbandry. Knowledge of these attitudes enables the pig industry to predict how different groups of people will respond to different animal welfare measures. Results of this study are therefore useful for the pig industry to help improve people’s attitudes toward sow husbandry.     

Attitudes toward Animals of Students at Three European Veterinary Medicine Schools in Italy and Spain

The European Veterinary Code of Conduct recognizes the crucial role of veterinarians in improving animal welfare and maintaining its standards. However, several studies have claimed that veterinary students’ attitudes toward animals may worsen as they progress through their academic training. This study aimed to investigate students’ attitudes toward nonhuman animal use in three European veterinary medicine schools (Italy and Spain). For this purpose, 565 veterinary students completed a questionnaire consisting of a range of items grouped into four animal-use categories: “Research,” “Entertainment,” “Utilitarianism,” and “Veterinary Issues.” Items were scored on a 5-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicative of higher concern regarding animal welfare. Results showed that the use of animals for “Entertainment” and questions related to “Veterinary Issues” raised the most concern among the veterinary students, while the use of animals for “Research” was of least concern. Moreover, we also examined some potentially confounding factors: age, academic year (first to fifth), gender, previous experience with pets, and university. Female students had a higher concern for animal welfare compared with their male counterparts. Students in their earlier stages of training as veterinarians also exhibited a greater concern for animal welfare compared with those of later academic years. Other factors affecting students’ attitudes toward animal use were the age of the students and the university they were enrolled at. The findings of this study confirm that attitudes toward animal use are not homogeneous and are associated with students’ demographic, educational, and personal characteristics.     

Painfully Aware: The Effects of Dissonance on Attitudes toward Factory Farming

ABSTRACT

We examine the moderating effects of cognitive dissonance on the persuasiveness of a message designed to influence attitudes and behaviors supportive of intensive-production animal agriculture, or “factory farming.” Existing research on human attitudes toward nonhuman animals indicates that generic disapproval of their suffering gratuitously at human hands is a social norm. However, studies also reveal an absence of related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors seemingly implied by this stance. Such apparent inconsistencies may persist due to lack of awareness about and/or engagement with the issue of farm animal welfare. We used a two-group, between-subjects experimental design, and the subject pool consisted of 62 non-vegetarian university students. Following random assignment to either the commitment condition or a non-commitment control group, all participants received an informational booklet arguing for the prevalence of neglect and abuse in industrial animal agriculture. Commitment participants, however, first responded privately to a dichotomous, single-item questionnaire, either agreeing or disagreeing that “animals should not suffer needlessly in the production of meat.” Given that the need to resolve or avoid self-contradiction can motivate attitudinal realignment, we hypothesized that an educational intervention would be more sympathetically received by individuals who had already volunteered support for its central premise, than by those never invited to adopt a stance. Results supporting three of four hypotheses indicated significantly heightened receptivity to an anti-factory farming message following commitment to a pro-welfare position. Commitment participants tended to be more open to eating less meat, concerned with the issue, and accepting of the message's basic claims. A fourth hypothesis was not supported: participants across groups were ambivalent about source credibility. We infer that animal advocacy efforts may more effectively generate public support for the cause by framing appeals to capitalize on what polls show most people already believe (i.e., that animal cruelty ought to be prevented).     

Human-Directed Empathy and Attitudes Toward Animal Use: A Survey of Spanish Veterinary Students

Veterinary practitioners are thought of as guardians of animal health and wellbeing, and are considered important in the development of policies on animals. Measuring veterinary students’ attitudes toward animals and animal use is needed when assessing the effectiveness of education programs focused on animal welfare and ethics. The present study examined Spanish veterinary students’ attitudes toward different types of animal use, their human-directed empathy, and the relationship between these and various personal variables. The sample comprised 200 students who completed an online questionnaire. Attitudes toward animal use varied significantly, depending on the type of use in question. There was also a relationship between attitudes toward animal use, one component of human-directed empathy, “Empathic Concern,” and a number of personal variables such as gender, career choice, and contact with animal welfare organizations. Concern about the use of animals for research and animal management was lower in students who were in the later years of their studies. Reasons for this and the role of veterinary education are discussed.     

基于纳米基因载体的动植物遗传转化研究进展

转基因技术在动植物优良新品种的培育中发挥着重要作用,而随着纳米生物技术的发展,基于纳米材料构建基因载体的动植物转基因技术,对于发展动植物转基因新方法以及加速转基因种质材料的大规模制备、优良新品种的培育进程具有更为重要的意义。综述了纳米基因载体的种类与性质,并结合动植物遗传育种的研究进展,分析了纳米基因载体相比于其他载体的特点及优势,同时,重点阐述了基于纳米基因载体的基因转染技术的基本原理和操作过程,及其在动植物遗传转化中的应用,以期为动植物基因工程改造提供新思路。     

Turning Shy on a Winter's Day: Effects of Season on Personality and Stress Response in Microtus arvalis

Animal personalities are by definition stable over time, but to what extent they may change during development and in adulthood to adjust to environmental change is unclear. Animals of temperate environments have evolved physiological and behavioural adaptations to cope with the cyclic seasonal changes. This may also result in changes in personality: suites of behavioural and physiological traits that vary consistently among individuals. Winter, typically the adverse season challenging survival, may require individuals to have shy/cautious personality, whereas during summer, energetically favourable to reproduction, individuals may benefit from a bold/risk‐taking personality. To test the effects of seasonal changes in early life and in adulthood on behaviours (activity, exploration and anxiety), body mass and stress response, we manipulated the photoperiod and quality of food in two experiments to simulate the conditions of winter and summer. We used the common voles (Microtus arvalis) as they have been shown to display personality based on behavioural consistency over time and contexts. Summer‐born voles allocated to winter conditions at weaning had lower body mass, a higher corticosterone increase after stress and a less active, more cautious behavioural phenotype in adulthood compared to voles born in and allocated to summer conditions. In contrast, adult females only showed plasticity in stress‐induced corticosterone levels, which were higher in the animals that were transferred to the winter conditions than to those staying in summer conditions. These results suggest a sensitive period for season‐related behavioural plasticity in which juveniles shift over the bold–shy axis.     

中国濒危鱼类、两栖爬行类和哺乳类的地理分布格局与优先保护区域——基于《中国濒危动物红皮书》的分析

《中国濒危动物红皮书》依据我国动物所面临的濒危,对我国濒危动物的濒危等级划分,种群现状,致危因素和保护措施等进行了描述说明,首批收录了535种濒危动物。本文以《中国濒危动物红皮书》中所收录的352种濒危脊椎动物（不含鸟类（以下简记为“濒危植物”）为研究对象,整理统计了现有濒危物种的分布资料,在GIS支持下,对中国濒危动物的地理分布进行了研究。结果表明,中国濒危动物物种呈明显的集聚分布,最密集的地区是横断山区,海南岛,西双版纳和云贵高原;而在华北平原,内蒙古东部,黄土高原和东北平原等地区出现大片空白区。影响濒危动物分布的主要因素有热量和水分条件,地形条件等自然条件以及历史开发,人为破坏等人文条件。山地因地形屏障作用而保留了较多的古老物种,其较为复杂的环境因子也有益物种的生存,因而物种丰富度较高。大多数动物对于水分和热量的依赖性较强,因此水热条件对其分布的限制作用十分明显。人为破坏较为严重的地区,濒危物种稀少;污染,开荒等引起的环境问题对于现存动物的威胁很。运用Dobson排除算法得到云南勐腊县等9个县分布有168种濒危动物,占全国总数（海生种类及仅分布于台湾和香港的特有种除外）的51．5％,而其土地面积之和仅为全国陆地总面积的0．9％。而云南勐腊县等94个县市就分布有中国所有的濒危动物。这些地区是我国生物多样性保护应该优先考虑的地方。     

The roles of elevation and salinity as primary controls on living foraminiferal distributions: Cowpen Marsh, Tees Estuary, UK

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages in subrecent deposits are commonly used to reconstruct past sea level. Interpretations are generally made by comparison with either modern dead or total (live plus dead) assemblages. In both cases there will have been post-mortem changes that have differentially affected preservation. It is therefore important to establish the primary ecological controls by analysis of the living assemblages. We have determined the spatial and temporal variability of intertidal benthic foraminifera in the surface (0–1 cm) sediments from a time series survey of 31 sampling stations at Cowpen Marsh, for a period of 12 months. We counted 112,067 live foraminifera assigned to 28 species. The fauna was dominated by two agglutinated species (Jadammina macrescens and Trochammina inflata) on the high and middle marshes, and three calcareous species (Elphidium williamsoni, Haynesina germanica and Quinqueloculina spp.) on the low marsh and tidal flat.The standing crop of the whole intertidal zone, including the high, middle, low marsh and tidal flat habitats, and the individual species varied both temporally and spatially. The standing crop of the intertidal zone as a whole was greatest in the summer months and showed a positive correlation with elevation. The standing crops of the high and middle marshes showed similar temporal variation with peaks in summer and autumn and a trough in winter. The low marsh showed numerous peaks and troughs of standing crop during the year, whereas the tidal flat showed a single peak in summer. The standing crops of Jadammina macrescens and Trochammina inflata on the high and middle marshes peaked from April to May and August to October with troughs in winter. These agglutinated species showed a strong correlation with elevation. Haynesina germanica peaked in May to August and November to January on the low marsh, whereas on the tidal flat there was a single peak in July. The standing crops of E. williamsoni on the low marsh and tidal flat were relatively high in June and May, and July, respectively. Quinqueloculina spp. peaked in May to July on the low marsh and July on the tidal flat. The species was also found in the middle marsh from July to May and high marsh from September to November. Haynesina germanica showed a strong negative correlation with elevation, whereas the other two dominant calcareous species demonstrated weak negative correlations with both elevation and salinity.Reconstructing former sea level depends primarily on the recognition of high and middle marsh assemblages and in this study these are shown to be strongly controlled by elevation rather than salinity. Caution may be needed in interpreting low marsh and tidal flat data as salinity plays a more important role here.     

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction to detect and differentiate Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus and Campylobacter fetus -species venerealis: use on UK isolates of C. fetus and other Campylobacter spp

AIMS: Subspeciation of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus (CFF) and Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis (CFV) is important for international animal import regulations. Phenotyping can be unreliable, and genotyping by techniques like pulsed field gel electrophoresis is difficult in routine diagnostic laboratories. A PCR subspeciation technique has been reported [Aust Vet J (1997) 75, 827]; we aimed to develop this PCR and investigate its use on UK C. fetus isolates. METHODS AND RESULTS: We augmented the PCR with further primers, and tested 76 isolates of C. fetus and 16 isolates of other Campylobacter spp. PCR failed to correlate well with phenotyping, especially for CFV. We characterized the amplicon of the CFV-specific primers (reported as plasmid derived, but unavailable on the public databases); and predicted a parA gene sequence, anticipated to be plasmid-associated. However, although plasmid isolations from selected CFV isolates demonstrated the presence of several plasmids, there was no correlation between plasmid profile and PCR result. Further, the parA sequence was not detected by PCR in any of the plasmid bands. CONCLUSIONS: This PCR is not suitable for subspeciation of C. fetus in the UK. The results suggest that this is a reflection of the presence of an unusual clone of CFV currently present in cattle in this country. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: PCR cannot substitute for phenotyping of C. fetus isolates in the UK. The reasons for failure of PCR genotyping may reflect local strains and/or plasmid profiles. Further study is required to better elucidate molecular sub-speciation of C. fetus.     

Putting the Spotlight on Internally Displaced Animals (IDAs): A Survey of Primate Sanctuaries in Africa,Asia, and the Americas

As anthropogenic activity makes deeper incursions into forests, fragmenting habitat, wildlife is forced into closer proximity to humans leading to increased incidences of human–wildlife conflict and wildlife displacement. These same incursions facilitate poaching for the commercial trade in dead and live animals. As a direct result, the number of sanctuaries and internally displaced animals (IDAs) in need of sanctuary placement and rehabilitation are increasing. We focus on internally displaced primates given the prevalence of primate‐focused facilities and anthropomorphic considerations surrounding this taxonomic group. Surveys were distributed globally to map the extent and range of native primate sanctuaries and species. Over 70 facilities care for more than 6,000 native primates comprising 64 species, with almost half listed as endangered or critically endangered. As not all sanctuaries were identified at the time of the survey distribution, we estimate that the actual number of facilities is closer to double this number with a captive population in excess of 10,000 individual primates. Native primate sanctuaries hold significant numbers of primates in long‐term captive care, with less than half (37%) identified as candidates for release. The surveyed sanctuary population accounts for 35% of the world's captive primates, as compared to ISIS‐registered (where ISIS is International Species Information System) zoological facilities, although we estimate that the actual population is closer to 58%. For some species, the sanctuary population represents the only population in captivity. We discuss the prevalence of range‐state sanctuaries and their primate populations, and issues surrounding their future development and management. Am. J. Primatol. 75:116‐134, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.