Perceptions of animal welfare and exotic pet ownership in China

China plays a critical role in global biodiversity conservation, as both a biodiversity hotspot and for its role in international and domestic animal trade. Efforts to promote wildlife conservation have sparked interest in the attitudes held by Chinese citizens towards animals. Using a questionnaire, we sought to investigate the attitudes of 317 Chinese nationals across 22 provincial-level administrative units regarding their uses of animals, their perceived emotional capacities and views on exotic pets. We reduced the variables related to perceived uses of animals via Principal Component Analysis and ran Generalised Linear Models and Structural Equation Modelling to test relationships between questionnaire-derived variables. Perceptions of animals were divided into two Kellert categories — Utilitarian and Humanistic uses — and 97% of participants believed in animals capacities to have and express emotions. We found few interactions, with exotic pets, ie playing with or taking photographs, but the acceptability of owning an exotic pet influenced the likelihood of purchasing one. A belief that animals express emotions encouraged people to look for them as pets but thinking that pets make people happy made exotic pet ownership less acceptable. The shift in attitudes to include humanistic perceptions of animals, a belief in animals as emotive beings and understanding of terminology changed from the previous utilitarian views of pre-reform China, suggesting a readiness to embrace further conservation efforts in China. This deeper understanding of Chinese attitudes toward animals and drivers of the exotic pet trade within China may enable conservation efforts to better target future campaigns.

University Students' Attitudes Towards Animal Welfare in Duhok Zoo

Here in Kurdistan Region of Iraq, particularly in Duhok zoo, animal welfare is mostly neglected. Animals are not treated normally. As far as the author is aware, there is no study undertaken to understand the students or public attitudes toward animals in Duhok zoo. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of the students of the University of Zakho, Faculty of Sciences, Departments of Environmental Sciences, and Biology about animal welfare concerns of Duhok Zoo. The study was undertaken at University of Zakho, Faculty of Sciences. Two hundred questionnaires were divided into the students of both Environmental Sciences and Biology Departments. The questionnaire comprised of 15 questions with 3 sections, which were: first, students identification including name, age, and sex. Second, information on animal welfare, and the last one was recording their opinions on the questionnaire. With each question, students had chosen one of the following opinions: Completely Disagree, Somewhat Disagree, Neither Disagree nor Agree, Somewhat Agree, and Completely Agree. All participants agreed to answer the questionnaire voluntarily. Results revealed that most of the students were of opinion that Duhok zoo should be improved; in addition, most of them were entirely or somewhat disagreed that Duhok zoo is acceptable in general. They had an agreement with the idea that there should be educational programs inside the zoo, and in addition, the zoo does not cover environmental needs for the most, if not all, captive animals. Students were also agreed that there should be conservation programs to conserve captive animals, especially endangered and rare species. However, almost all of the students did not want the zoo to be closed entirely. According to the findings of the students' attitudes obtained, it can be concluded that the zoological park of Duhok city has many shortages regarding the welfare of animals in dealing with their captive animals.

Understanding African Americans’ Attitudes toward Nonhuman Animals: Historical and Psychological Perspectives

Historical and current literature is reviewed and social psychological theory is applied to support novel theories about African Americans’ attitudes toward nonhuman animals. Due to psychological reactions stemming from their brutal U.S. history, involving shared suffering with animals, African Americans are theorized to have either negative or positive beliefs about animals. Two studies revealed the latter: that African Americans have positive attitudes toward animals overall, as measured by a new, statistically reliable Attitudes toward Animals Scale. In Study 1, African American university students’ attitudes were somewhat less positive than White students’ attitudes, but in Study 2, older African American community members’ attitudes were more positive than Whites’. This cross-study difference, however, results from less positive White attitudes in Study 2, rather than from any important difference in African Americans’ attitudes across the two samples. The results and unique theoretical framework pave the way for future research on this important issue.