A Study on the Views and Thoughts of Dog Owners in Turkiye on Animal Welfare

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the views and thoughts of dog owners in Turkiye on animal welfare. The research material consisted of data obtained from face-to-face surveys with 172 randomly selected dog owners. Half of the dog owners (54,7 %) were aware of the concept of animal welfare, and almost two-thirds (61,6 %) organized their dogs' living spaces according to animal welfare principles. Participants most associated the concept of animal welfare with the concept of animal quality of life (47,7 %). Gender (p<0.01) and education level (p<0.01) had an effect on the understanding of the animal welfare concept; female and higher eductation resulted in a broader understanding. More than half of the participants (54,1 %) obtained information about animal welfare from written and visual non-evidence based media.