Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-fg9bn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-05T09:47:53.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Students’ attitudes to animal welfare and rights in Europe and Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

CJC Phillips ,
S Izmirli ,
SJ Aldavood ,
M Alonso ,
Bl Choe ,
A Hanlon ,
A Handziska ,
G Illmann ,
L Keeling  and
M Kennedy
...Show all authors
CJC Phillips*
Affiliation:
Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, Queensland, Australia
S Izmirli
Affiliation:
Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, Queensland, Australia Department of History of Veterinary Medicine and Deontology, University of Selcuk, Turkey
SJ Aldavood
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Iran
M Alonso
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Production, University of Leon, Spain
Bl Choe
Affiliation:
Department of Bioethics, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
A Hanlon
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland
A Handziska
Affiliation:
AgroWeb Farm Animal Welfare Network, ul Naroden front br13/45, 1000 Skpoje, Macedonia
G Illmann
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Science, Department of Ethology, Prague, Czech Republic
L Keeling
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
M Kennedy
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
GH Lee
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea
V Lund
Affiliation:
National Veterinary Institute, Oslo, Norway
C Mejdell
Affiliation:
Fond SFS Center for Education, Research and Consulting in Agriculture, Novi Sad, Serbia
VR Pelagic
Affiliation:
Fond SFS Center for Education, Research and Consulting in Agriculture, Novi Sad, Serbia
T Rehn
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: c.phillips@uq.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A survey of attitudes towards the welfare and rights of animals was conducted in universities in 11 European and Asian countries, to improve understanding of cultural differences that might impact on trade and international relations. Collaborators’ universities were recruited in each country to assist in the design, translation and administration of the survey via the internet in a convenient selection of the country's universities, providing 3,433 student responses from at least 103 universities. Respondents rated the acceptability of 43 major concerns about animals (focused on type of use, animal integrity, killing animals, animal welfare, experimentation on animals, changes in animal genotypes, the environment for animals and societal attitudes towards animals). Students from European countries had more concern for animal welfare than students from Asian countries, which may be partly explained by increased affluence of European students as there was a positive correlation between student expenditure and concern for animal welfare and rights. Southern and central European countries had most concern for animal rights and unnatural practices. Those in communist or former communist countries in Asia and Europe had most concern about killing animals and those in northern European countries the least. Regional similarities between neighbouring countries were evident in responses to animal issues and there were no differences between ethnic groups within a country. Thus, there were national and continental differences in European and Asian students’ attitudes to animals’ welfare and rights, which appear to arise as a result of the socio-political situation in regions rather than religious or other differences.

Keywords

animalsanimal welfareAsiacultureEuropenation

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 87 - 100
Copyright
© 2012 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Anon 2011 Conservation for humans and nature: hunting in Sweden. http://www.naturvardsverket.se/en/In-English/Start/Nature-conservation-and-wildlife/Wildlife-management-and-hunting/Hunting-in-Sweden. (Accessed 14 March 2011)Google Scholar
Beardsworth, A and Bryman, A 2004 Meat consumption and meat avoidance among young people: an 11-year longitudinal study. British Food Journal 106: 313–327CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bentham, J 1789 Principles of Morals and Legislation. Clarendon: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Brislin, RW 1970 Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 1: 185–216CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chao, J 2003 South Koreans want to spoil, not broil, their pooches. http://juliechao.com/articles/sk-dogs.html. (Accessed 5 May 2010)Google Scholar
Clark, AE, Frijters, P and Shields, MA 2008 Relative income, happiness, and utility: an explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and other puzzles. Journal of Economic Literature 46: 95–144CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cost of Living Index 2010 Cost of Living Index by Country for 2010. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp. (Accessed 13 September 2010)Google Scholar
Davey, G and Wu, ZH 2007 Attitudes in China toward the use of animals in laboratory research. Alternatives to Laboratory Animals 35: 313–316CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deets, S 2006 Re-imagining the boundaries of the nation: politics and the development of ideas on minority rights. East European Politics and Societies 20: 419–446CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driscoll, JW 1992 Attitudes towards animals. Anthrozoös 5: 32–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar
European Commission (EC) 2005 Attitudes of consumers towards the welfare of farmed animals. Special Eurobarometer 229th Report pp 1–73. EC: Brussels, BelgiumGoogle Scholar
European Commission (EC) 2007 Attitudes of EU citizens towards animal welfare. Special Eurobarometer 270th Report pp 1–51. EC: Brussels, BelgiumGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D 2008 Understanding Animal Welfare: The Science in its Cultural Context pp 324. Wiley-Blackwell: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Frewer, LJ, Kole, A, Van De Kroon, SMA and De Lauwere, C 2005 Consumer attitudes towards the development of animal-friendly husbandry systems. Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics 18: 345–367CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments 2011 Latest News. http://www.frame.org.uk/. (Accessed 14 March 2011)Google Scholar
Gregory, J 2007 Of Victorians and Vegetarians: The Vegetarian Movement in Nineteenth-Century Britain. IB Tauris & Co Ltd: London, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harkness, J 2003 Questionnaire translation. In: Harkness, J, Van de Vijer, F and Moher, P (eds) Cross-Cultural Survey Methods pp 35–56. John Wiley & Sons Inc: UKGoogle Scholar
Herzog, H, Betchart, N and Pittman, R 1991 Sex role identity and attitudes toward animals. Anthrozoös 4: 184–192CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Illner, M 1998 The changing quality of life in a post-communist country: the case of Czech Republic. Social Indicators Research 43: 141–170CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Izmirli, S, Aldavood, SJ, Yasar, A and Phillips, CJC 2010 Introducing ethical evaluation of the use of animals in experiments in the Near East. Alternatives to Laboratory Animals 38: 331–336CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Izmirli, S and Phillips, CJC 2011 The relationship between student consumption of animal products and attitudes to animals in Europe and Asia. British Food Journal 113: 436–450CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamarudin, KA 1983 The ecology, pest status and control of the Malaysian wood rat (Rattus tiomanicus Miller) in a cocoa-coconut plantation. The ecology, pest status and control of the Malaysian wood rat (Rattus tiomanicus Miller) in a cocoa-coconut plantation. pp 2756. Ann Arbor, Michigan University Microfilms: Michigan, USAGoogle Scholar
Kjarnes, U and Lavik, R 2008 Opinions on animal welfare and food consumption in seven European countries. In Kjærnes U, Bock BB, Roe E and Roex J (eds) Consumption, Distribution and Production of Farm Animal welfare pp 33. Welfare Quality Report No 7, MPG Books Group: UKGoogle Scholar
Levinson, D 1998 Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook. Oryx Press: Phoenix, Arizona, USAGoogle Scholar
Man-Ho, K 1994 Rat Chinese Horoscope Library pp 12. Dorling Kindersley Publishing: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Mellor, D, Patterson-Kane, E and Stafford, KJ 2009 The Sciences of Animal Welfare pp 224. Wiley-Blackwell: Ames, IA, USAGoogle Scholar
Meng, J 2009 Origins of Attitudes of Animals. http://jmeng.goodeasy.info/publications/readOAA.php. (Accessed 5 May 2010)Google Scholar
Meng, J, Hao, LP, Hou, H, Illmannová, G, Alonso, ME, Hanlon, A, Aldavood, SJ, Choe, BI, Lee, GL, Handziska, A, Kjastad, H, Lund, V, Olsson, A, Rehn, T, Keeling, LJ, Pelagic, VR, Kennedy, M and Phillips, CJC 2009 Attitudes to animals in Eurasia: the identification of different types of animal protection through an international survey. Abstract number IS OP061. Book of Abstracts, The 2009 International Academic and Community Conference on Animals and Society: Minding Animals. 13-18 July 2009. Newcastle, AustraliaGoogle Scholar
Ozen, R and Ozen, A 2006 Birdhouses in Turkey. XXXVII International Congress of the World Veterinary Association for the History of Veterinary Medicine & XII Spanish National Congress on the Veterinary History pp 545–548. Leon, SpainGoogle Scholar
Phillips, CJC 2005 Ethical perspectives of the Australian live export trade. Australian Veterinary Journal 83: 558–562CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, CJC 2009 The Welfare of Animals: The Silent Majority pp 220. Springer: Dordrecht, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Phillips, CJC and McCulloch, S 2005 Student attitudes on animal sentience and use of animals in society. Journal of Biological Education 40: 1–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, CJC, Izmirli, S, Aldavood, SJ, Alonso, M, Choe, BI, Hanlon, A, Handziska, A, Illman, G, Keeling, L, Kennedy, M, Lee, GH, Lund, V, Mejdell, C, Pelagic, VR and Rehn, T 2011 An international comparison of female and male students’ attitudes to the use of animals. Animals 1: 7–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pythagoras 1999 The kinship of all life. In: Walters, KS and Portmess, L (eds) Ethical Vegetarianism, from Pythagoras to Peter Singer. State University of New York Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Speedy, AW 2003 Global production and consumption of animal source foods. Journal of Nutrition 133: 4048S–4053SCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turner, J and D’Silva, J 2006 Animals, Ethics and Trade: The Challenge of Animal Sentience. Earthscan: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Van Wezemael, L, Verbeke, W, Kugler, JO, De Barcellos, MD and Grunert, KG 2010 European consumers and beef safety: perceptions, expectations and uncertainty reduction strategies. Food Control 21: 835–844CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank 2003 Per capita income around the world. http://www.success-and-culture.net/articles/percapitaincome.shtml. (Accessed 9 April 2010)Google Scholar
World Factbook 2010 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html. (Accessed 7 May 2010)Google Scholar