Belief in Animal Sentience and Affective Owner Attitudes are linked to Positive Working Equid Welfare across Six Countries
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Key finding:
Working equids whose owners believe in their capacity to feel emotion have significantly better health and welfare outcomes than those whose owners do not, according to new research by the University of Portsmouth and international animal welfare charity, The Donkey Sanctuary. The study is the first to show a link between the welfare of working equids - including donkeys, horses, and mules - and the attitudes and beliefs of their owners, in different countries and contexts around the world. Researchers visited equid-owning communities in Egypt, Mexico, Pakistan, Senegal, Spain and Portugal. They carried out detailed assessments of equid welfare alongside questionnaires for owners about their beliefs, values and attitudes toward their animals. The study found animals whose owners believed they felt emotions or who had an emotional bond with them, were in significantly better health and had higher body condition scores than those whose owners did not, or who focused on how profitable or useful they were.Similarly, animals whose owners believed they could feel pain were much less likely to be lame. These relationships were evident across multiple countries and a diverse range of working roles. The results can inform future welfare initiatives by highlighting the importance of the human–equid relationship and the role that beliefs regarding animal sentience play in influencing equid welfare.
Links to Open Access Publications or DOI:
Citation:
Haddy, E., Burden, F., Raw, Z., Rodrigues, J. B., Zappi Bello, J. H., Brown, J., Kaminski, J. & Proops, L. (2023). Belief in Animal Sentience and Affective Owner Attitudes are linked to Positive Working Equid Welfare across Six Countries. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 1-19.
