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Improving the Welfare of Companion Dogs-Is Owner Education the Solution?

ABSTRACT: Vets, animal welfare charities, and researchers have frequently cited educating owners as a necessity for improving the welfare of companion dogs. The assumption that improving an owner's knowledge through an education intervention subsequently results in improvements in the welfare of the dog appears reasonable. However, the complexity of dog welfare and dog ownership and the context in which these relationships occur is rapidly changing. Psychology has demonstrated that humans are complex, with values, attitudes, and beliefs influencing our behaviours as much as knowledge and understanding. Equally, the context in which we individuals and our dogs live is rapidly changing and responding to evolving societal and cultural norms. Therefore, we seek to understand education's effectiveness as an approach to improving welfare through exploring and understanding these complexities, in conjunction with the relevant research from the disciplines of science education and communication. We argue that well designed and rigorously evaluated education interventions can play a part in the challenge of improving welfare, but that these may have limited scope, and welfare scientists could further consider extending cross-disciplinary, cross-boundary working, and research in order to improve the welfare of companion dogs.

SUBMITTER: Philpotts I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6770859 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Improving the Welfare of Companion Dogs-Is Owner Education the Solution?

Philpotts Izzie I Dillon Justin J Rooney Nicola N

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 20190906 9

Vets, animal welfare charities, and researchers have frequently cited educating owners as a necessity for improving the welfare of companion dogs. The assumption that improving an owner's knowledge through an education intervention subsequently results in improvements in the welfare of the dog appears reasonable. However, the complexity of dog welfare and dog ownership and the context in which these relationships occur is rapidly changing. Psychology has demonstrated that humans are complex, wit ...[more]

PMID: 31500203

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Project description:IntroductionEpilepsy is a serious and common neurological condition in dogs, despite the wide number of antiepileptic drugs available, in approximately one third of the patients, epilepsy remains unsatisfactorily controlled. We aim to analyze whether feeding dietary fat sources during puppyhood was associated with canine epilepsy in adulthood.MethodsA nested case-control study was compiled from the validated DogRisk food frequency questionnaire (DogRisk FFQ). DogRisk FFQ collected feeding, disease, and background data about the dog. The study sample consisted of 108 owner-reported epileptic cases and 397 non-epileptic controls. Each case was matched with up to four controls for the key confounding factors of sex, breed, and age. We analyzed associations between feeding as a puppy and owner-reported epilepsy as an adult dog using Cox regression. We tested 55 different food variables.ResultsWe found that feeding fish fat from dietary sources at least once a week during puppyhood was inversely associated with epilepsy in later life in the unadjusted analysis [OR 0.46 (95% CI 0.25-0.83), p=0.01], while when adjusting for keeping conditions and dog characteristics the association was [OR 0.45 (95% CI 0.23-0.88), p=0.02]. When adjusted for keeping conditions, dog characteristics, and other feeding factors, the association was of similar magnitude but not significance [OR 0.56 (95% CI 0.27-1.15), p=0.12].DiscussionThe study indicates possible protective associations of feeding the dog with dietary sources of fish fat against epilepsy, although the result could be confounded by other feeding factors. Findings are compatible with current knowledge regarding the role of omega-3 fatty acids and ketogenic diet, a low carbohydrate, high fat diet as supportive treatments of epilepsy. As our findings are based on observations, we suggest the possibility of causality but do not prove it. Dietary intervention studies should now be conducted to confirm our findings.

Project description:Companion animals may be a positive presence for their owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the welfare of a companion animal is strongly influenced by the behaviour of their owners, as well as their physical and social environment. We aimed to investigate the reported changes in companion animal welfare and behaviour and to examine the association between these changes and companion animal owners' mental health. A cross-sectional online survey of UK residents over 18 years of age was conducted between April and June 2020 (n = 5926). The questionnaire included validated, bespoke items measuring outcomes related to mental health, human-animal bonds and reported changes in animal welfare and behaviour. The final item of the survey invited open-ended free-text responses, allowing participants to describe experiences associated with human-animal relationships during the first UK lockdown phase. Animal owners made up 89.8% of the sample (n = 5323), of whom 67.3% reported changes in their animal's welfare and behaviour during the first lockdown phase (n = 3583). These reported changes were reduced to a positive (0-7) and negative (0-5) welfare scale, following principal component analysis (PCA) of 17 items. Participants reported more positive changes for cats, whereas more negative changes were reported for dogs. Thematic analysis identified three main themes relating to the positive and negative impact on companion animals of the COVID-19 pandemic. Generalised linear models indicated that companion animal owners with poorer mental health scores pre-lockdown reported fewer negative changes in animal welfare and behaviour. However, companion animal owners with poorer mental health scores since lockdown reported more changes, both positive and negative, in animal welfare and behaviour. Our findings extend previous insights into perceived welfare and behaviour changes on a very limited range of species to a wider range of companion animals. Owner mental health status has a clear, albeit small, effect on companion animal welfare and behaviour.

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Improving the Welfare of Companion Dogs-Is Owner Education the Solution?

Publications

Improving the Welfare of Companion Dogs-Is Owner Education the Solution?

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