Attitudes to Animal use in Children

Abstract

Six hundred and fifty children, aged between 11 and 15 years, from an urban and a rural area, completed a questionnaire in which they provided information regarding their attitudes towards 13 issues involving the use of animals. Information regarding the pets the children owned was also obtained. The child's sex (male, female), age (11-15 years), and residence area (urban, rural) were related to pet ownership, and, including pet ownership, to attitudes towards the use of animals. Over 90% of the sample owned a pet, with the dog being the most common. More pets were owned by children from rural than urban areas. With regards to the animal-use issues, all the children discriminated between animal uses that lead to death of or injury to the animal and those regarded as exploitation. Children disagreed more with uses leading to the animal's death or injury. Females expressed more disagreement than males, and children from urban areas expressed more disagreement than children from rural settings. The study revealed pet ownership to be high among school children. This was matched by a high concern over activities leading to the animal's death or injury, indicating that strong attitudes to animal use are formed early during development. Early education may be important in shaping these attitudes.

Italian Youths' Attitudes toward, and Concern for, Animals

“…However, this desire cannot account for the very high percentage (94%) of males as perpetrators of witnessed animal abuse. Our results are consistent with most of the research on human-animal interactions and on empathy in general (e.g., Hoffman and Levine 1976;Wells and Hepper 1995;Flynn 2000;Thompson and Gullone 2003;Robertson, Gallivan and MacIntyre 2004;Taylor and Signal 2005;Henry 2006). Our findings also shed some light on the role of mothers (and possibly of women) in Italian families.…”

Pet attachment and personality type

“…Females expressed more concern with using animals in all research than did males (Shaw 1971;Shaw and Gilbert 1974;Gallup and Beckstead 1988;Furnham and Pinder 1990;Herzog, Betchart and Pittman 1991;Driscoll 1992;Broida et al 1993;Pifer, Shimizu and Pifer 1994;Wells and Hepper 1995). Similarly, females in North America and England were more likely to become members of animal-welfare groups than males (Sperling 1988).…”

An In-class, Humane Education Program Can Improve Young Students' Attitudes Toward Animals

“…Reflecting results typically found among adults (Herzog, Betchart, & Pittman, 1991;Knight, Vrij, Cherryman, & Nunkoosing, 2004;Matthews & Herzog, 1997;Taylor & Signal, 2005), Bjerke, Odergårdstuen, and Kaltenborn (1998) found that gender correlated with attitudes toward animals among children; pet caregivers (owners) and girls both tended to view animals more favorably. Others (Bowd, 1984;Fielding, Samuels, & Mather, 2002;Reid & Sa'di, 1997;Wells & Hepper, 1995) have also found gender differences in attitudes or reactions toward animals and animal issues in children and adolescents. In addition, Selby and Rhoades (1981) reported that female owners are more emotionally involved with their pets than are male owners.…”