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Attitudes of the public towards dogs and cats as companion animals
Author(s) -
SELBY LLOYD A.,
RHOADES JOHN D.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of small animal practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1748-5827
pISSN - 0022-4510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-5827.1981.tb00592.x
Subject(s) - cats , medicine , companion animal , animal assisted therapy , feeling , analysis of variance , hubzero , demography , veterinary medicine , pet therapy , animal welfare , social psychology , psychology , biology , ecology , sociology
A questionnaire was used to collect information on attitudes toward dogs and cats as companion animals. Thirty‐nine attitudinal questions on dogs were grouped using principal component analysis (PCA) into six independent major factors; whereas, 38 items on cats were grouped using principal component analysis (PCA) into four independent major factors. In addition, 18 items which did not fit the PCA model but that were related to the respondents' attitudes towards dogs and cats as companion animals were analysed separately. The hypotheses tested, using analysis of variance (ANOVA) were that there was no significant relationship between the factors and five variables, i.e., pet ownership, age or sex of the respondents and their like or dislike of either dogs or cats. The respondents' like or dislike of dogs or cats influenced their attitudes towards ownership of companion animals. Furthermore, nonowners stated they derive minimal value from a dog or cat as a pet and viewed the negative characteristics of the animal itself per se as a more important factor in determining ownership. Female respondents were more emotionally involved and younger owners derived more of a feeling of importance‐vanity from dog or cat ownership.