Attitudes to dogs in Taiwan

Serpell, J. A., & Hsu, Y. (2016). Attitudes to Dogs in Taiwan: A Case Study. In Companion Animals in Everyday Life (pp. 145-165). Palgrave Macmillan US.

Despite the dog’s long mutualistic association with humans, global attitudes toward the species, Canis familiaris, are exceedingly diverse, ranging from overwhelmingly positive in most Western countries to predominantly negative in many developing nations. Since attitudes are important predictors of dog-related behavior, knowledge of the forces and factors that affect people’s attitudes to dogs can make an important contribution to improving dog-human relations, global public health, and canine welfare. This chapter explores some of the key factors influencing dog-related attitudes and behavior, with particular reference to the results of a case study of attitudes to dogs in Taiwan. The findings suggest that people’s attitudes to dogs involve both affective/emotional and instrumental/practical components, and that a significant minority of people in Taiwan are opposed to the killing/euthanasia of unwanted dogs. The most important determinant of both positive affective attitudes to dogs and opposition to killing/euthanasia was the experience of growing up with household dogs. The significance of these and other findings are discussed from the perspective of animal attitude development, and dog welfare and population management

Too feral to save?

Hutchison, M. (2016). Comments on the dilemma in the April issue: Too feral to save?. In Practice, 38(5), 254-254.

In the dilemma discussed in the April issue of In Practice, a feral cat had been brought into your practice. It had a simple fracture of the tibia that was eminently fixable, but the cat was feral to the point of being unhandleable. What was the best course of action? (IP, April 2016, vol 38, pp 198-199). David Mills suggested that there were three options: to euthanase; to perform surgical internal stabilisation followed by a rest period, then rehome or release; or to amputate the limb and then rehome or release. None of these options was ideal but a possible solution might be to consider the cat's values. While some suffering in any veterinary intervention was inevitable, this cat's suffering could be prolonged and severe. Consideration of the cat's values and applying ‘critical anthropomorphism’ might help to crystallise thoughts about the animal's welfare and interests. With the potential for severe suffering with no end gain, euthanasia might be the most ethically appropriate option in this case.

Would you pay to reduce euthanasia rate in your country?

Siettou, C. (2015). The UK public’s perceptions on the issue of the dog overpopulation problem and people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for a humane stray dog management.

The present study surveyed a UK representative sample of 500 individuals and employed the Choice Experiment (CE) to elicit the UK public’s views on the management of stray dogs and people’s willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce the current euthanasia rate. The results revealed that people have an emotional bonding with companion animals and are willing to pay to reduce the current euthanasia rate. According to the findings the UK public believes that the current stray dog management of euthanizing unhomed dogs is of grave or moderate concern and appears to be keen on the imposition of welfare-improving policies such as dog licensing, compulsory micro-chipping, etc. In addition, the CE investigated people’s willingness to pay (WTP) on a monthly basis to extend the current stray dog seven day statutory period in order to reduce the euthanasia rate. By constructing two payment methods, those of a Voluntary Contribution and of a Mandatory Council Tax Charge the study revealed that people are willing to pay £5.83 per month for small cross/mixed breed dog under the Voluntary Contribution regime and £2.14 per month for a young dog under the Mandatory Council Tax Charge regime.

Meta-analysis of the proportion of dogs surrendered for dog-related and owner-related reasons

Lambert, K., Coe, J., Niel, L., Dewey, C., & Sargeant, J. M. (2014). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the proportion of dogs surrendered for dog-related and owner-related reasons. Preventive Veterinary Medicine.

Highlights

• We summarized results across identified studies that reported the proportion of dogs surrendered for various reasons and combined the results in an attempt to provide a more precise result for the most-commonly reported reasons.

• We determined possible sources of heterogeneity a priori and explored these to provide an explanation for the variation in results among the studies

.• Owner health/illness as a reason for dog surrender to a shelter had an overall estimate of 4.6% (95% CI: 4.1%, 5.2%).

• Country was identified as a significant source of variation (p < 0.01) among studies reporting behavioural problems as a reason for dog surrender for euthanasia.

• There is the need for further research and standardization of data collection to improve understanding of the reasons for dog relinquishment.



Abstract

Companion-animal relinquishment is a worldwide phenomenon that leaves companion animals homeless. Knowing why humans make the decision to end their relationship with a companion-animal can help in our understanding of this complex societal issue and can help to develop preventive strategies. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to summarize reasons why dogs are surrendered, and determine if certain study characteristics were associated with the reported proportions of reasons for surrender.

Articles investigating one or more reasons for dog surrender were selected from the references of a published scoping review. Two reviewers assessed the titles and abstracts of these articles, identifying 39 relevant articles. From these, 21 articles were further excluded because of ineligible study design, insufficient data available for calculating a proportion, or no data available for dogs. Data were extracted from 18 articles and meta-analysis was conducted on articles investigating reasons for dog surrender to a shelter (n = 9) or dog surrender for euthanasia (n = 5). Three studies were excluded from meta-analysis because they were duplicate populations. Other reasons for excluding studies from meta-analysis were, (1) the study only investigated reasons for dog re-relinquishment (n = 2), and (2) the study sample size was < 10 (n = 1). Two articles investigated reasons for both dog surrender to a shelter and dog surrender for euthanasia. Results of meta-analysis found owner health/illness as a reason for dog surrender to a shelter had an overall estimate of 4.6% (95% CI: 4.1%, 5.2%). For all other identified reasons for surrender there was significant variation in methodology among studies preventing further meta-analysis. Univariable meta-regression was conducted to explore sources of variation among these studies. Country was identified as a significant source of variation (p < 0.01) among studies reporting behavioural problems as a reason for dog surrender for euthanasia. The overall estimate for studies from Australia was 10% (95% CI: 8.0%, 12.0%; I2 = 15.5%), compared to 16% (95% CI: 15.0%, 18.0%; I2 = 20.2%) for studies from other countries.

The present systematic review and meta-analysis highlights the need for further research and standardization of data collection to improve understanding of the reasons for dog relinquishment.

Management preferences regarding feral cats in Hawai'i

LOHR, C. A., & LEPCZYK, C. A. (2013). Desires and Management Preferences of Stakeholders Regarding Feral Cats in the Hawaiian Islands. Conservation Biology. Article first published online: 20 DEC 2013 | DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12201

Feral cats are abundant in many parts of the world and a source of conservation conflict. Our goal was to clarify the beliefs and desires held by stakeholders regarding feral cat abundance and management. We measured people's desired abundance of feral cats in the Hawaiian Islands and identified an order of preference for 7 feral cat management techniques. In 2011 we disseminated a survey to 5407 Hawaii residents. Approximately 46% of preidentified stakeholders and 20% of random residents responded to the survey (1510 surveys returned). Results from the potential for conflict index revealed a high level of consensus (86.9% of respondents) that feral cat abundance should be decreased. The 3 most common explanatory variables for respondents’ stated desires were enjoyment from seeing feral cats (84%), intrinsic value of feral cats (12%), and threat to native fauna (73%). The frequency with which respondents saw cats and change in the perceived abundance of cats also affected respondent's desired abundance of cats; 41.3% of respondents stated that they saw feral cats daily and 44.7% stated that the cat population had increased in recent years. Other potential environmental impacts of feral cats had little affect on desired abundance. The majority of respondents (78%) supported removing feral cats from the natural environment permanently. Consensus convergence models with data from 1388 respondents who completed the relevant questions showed live capture and lethal injection was the most preferred technique and trap-neuter-release was the least preferred technique for managing feral cats. However, the acceptability of each technique varied among stakeholders. Our results suggest that the majority of Hawaii's residents would like to see effective management that reduces the abundance of feral or free-roaming cats.

See also this post

Public prefer keeping dogs in kennels than euthanasia

Siettou, C., Fraser, I., & Fraser, R. (2013). A Choice Experiment Analysis of the Management of the Stray Dog Population in the UK. Agricultural Economics Society>87th Annual Conference, April 8-10, 2013, Warwick University, Coventry, UK

In this paper we present the results of a pilot study investigating the public’s view on the pet overpopulation problem. The Choice Experiment aims to understand the UK public’s awareness of the issue, its views and its willingness to participate and pay for a reduction in the rate of animals being “put to sleep”. Our preliminary results indicate that the public are willing to pay to keep healthy stray dogs alive for longer in Local Authority kennels beyond the current seven day statutory period.

Reply to McCarthy et al. (2013) on methods to control feral cats

Lepczyk, C. A., Conant, S., Duffy, D., Unit, P. C. S., Honolulu, H., Bird, D. M., & Calver, M. (2013). Feral cat management. Zoonoses Public Health, 60, 189-195.

Reply to McCarthy et al. (2013) 

Sociological view on methods to control feral cats

Loyd, K. A. T., & Miller, C. A. (2010). Influence of demographics, experience and value orientations on preferences for lethal management of feral cats.Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 15(4), 262-273.

Populations of feral domestic cats have increased throughout the United States, affecting wildlife and warranting attention from a variety of management agencies. This contentious issue requires a greater understanding of public attitudes and preferences for population control. We used data from a 2004 mail survey of Illinois homeowners' attitudes toward wildlife and conservation to investigate support for the lethal control of feral cats and to examine factors (demographic, experience, and wildlife value orientations) that may influence preference for euthanasia as a management option. Community size, gender, education level, wildlife value orientations, and negative experiences with feral cats were significant predictors of preference for lethal



Loyd, K. A., & Miller, C. A. (2010). Factors related to preference for trap-neuterrelease management of feral cats among Illinois homeowners. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 74, 160-164.

Populations of feral domestic cats have increased throughout the United States, affecting wildlife and warranting attention from a variety of management agencies. This contentious issue requires a greater understanding of public attitudes and preferences for population control. We used data from a 2004 mail survey of Illinois, USA, homeowners’ attitudes towards wildlife and conservation to investigate support for the trap-neuter–release (TNR) of feral cats and to examine factors (demographic, experience, and wildlife values orientations) that may influence preference for TNR as a management option. Age, gender, and wildlife rights values orientations were significant predictors of preference for TNR, while negative experiences with feral cats were correlated with preferences for management options other than TNR. Investigations of public perceptions of feral cat management can help wildlife managers understand the growing public debate regarding feral cat management and provide appropriate input and educational materials regarding cat management and wildlife.