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Does owning a companion animal influence the belief that animals experience emotions such as grief?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

JK Walker ,
N McGrath ,
IG Handel ,
NK Waran  and
CJC Phillips
JK Walker*
Affiliation:
Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia The Animal Welfare and Biodiversity Research Group, Department of Natural Sciences, Unitec, Private Bag 92025, Auckland 1025, New Zealand
N McGrath
Affiliation:
Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education. Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
IG Handel
Affiliation:
The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
NK Waran
Affiliation:
Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education. Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK
CJC Phillips
Affiliation:
Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: jwalker@unitec.ac.nz
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Abstract

This paper investigates public attitudes towards emotional experiences in animals. We surveyed 1,000 members of the public to investigate how companion animal ownership affects the attribution of emotions to animals and beliefs about whether animals can grieve. Respondents who owned a companion animal were more likely to believe that some animals can experience grief compared with respondents that did not own a companion animal. The non-owning respondents were more likely to believe that animals do not experience emotions including: anxiety, distress or depression, do not show behavioural changes when they are experiencing grief and do not grieve as a result of separation from a conspecific. Our findings show that companion animal ownership plays a significant role in the public perception of the emotional experiences of animals and belief in the animals’ ability to grieve.

Keywords

animal welfarecompanion animalemotionsgriefpublic attitudesseparation
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 71 - 79
Copyright
© 2014 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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