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Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2021; 11(6); 1776; doi: 10.3390/ani11061776

Attitudes of the Equestrian Public towards Equine End-of-Life Decisions.

Abstract: A key welfare concern for the equine population in the U.K. has been identified as delayed death, leading to prolonged suffering of horses. Reasons why some horse owners fail to have their horses euthanised include financial cost, emotional attachment, peer pressure, negative attitudes towards killing and poor recognition of behavioural indicators of equine pain and stress. The Five Freedoms framework of welfare was used to build a Likert-style survey to investigate the factors underlying attitudes of horse owners towards welfare measures in an end-of-life decision. Participants were asked to respond to hypothetical welfare scenarios and to give details of any horses they had had euthanised. The survey was conducted predominantly via equestrian Facebook groups and obtained 160 participant responses. Reliability of the scale was acceptable, with Cronbach's α=0.89. Principal Component Analysis was used to load the hypothetical scenarios onto seven factors containing 62.2% of the variance. The first four factors could be categorized according to "Ethology-informed Management", "Traditional Horse Management", "Emotional Issues" and "Physical Issues". Participants were more likely to consider euthanasia for physical issues, compared with issues relating to affective state and/or ethology, although it was not clear whether this was due to disregard for welfare issues relating to mental health or failure to recognise them as such. A large number of responses stated that the scenario had no bearing on whether a horse should be euthanised, again suggesting a lack of recognition of welfare issues and their implications. When asked to state their reasons for euthanising their horses, participants cited almost exclusively physical reasons, with the exception of those citing dangerous behaviour. Only a small number of responses also included consideration of affective and/or ethological factors, suggesting that welfare issues concerning affective state and/or behaviour are at risk of omission from end-of-life decisions.
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Publication Date: 2021-06-14 PubMed ID: 34198636PubMed Central: PMC8232243DOI: 10.3390/ani11061776Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The study delved into the attitudes of horse owners about making end-of-life decisions, exploring why some hesitate to euthanize suffering horses and how horse owners’ views differ on the subject. The research utilized a survey and primarily focused on factors like management styles, emotional issues, and physical problems.

Survey Design and Execution

  • The research employed a Likert-style survey built around the Five Freedoms framework of welfare. This framework is widely recognized in animal welfare studies and includes freedom from hunger or thirst, discomfort, pain, injury or disease, the freedom to express normal behavior, and freedom from fear and distress.
  • The survey asked participants to respond to hypothetical welfare scenarios and additionally asked them to provide details of any horses they had had euthanised.
  • The survey was mainly conducted via equestrian Facebook groups and managed to gather 160 participant responses.

Data Analysis

  • The reliability of the scale was found to be acceptable with a Cronbach’s α score of 0.89. In statistics, Cronbach’s α is used as a measure of internal consistency or reliability of test or survey scores.
  • Principal Component Analysis, a statistical procedure that uses orthogonal transformation to convert possible correlated variables into principal components, was used to load the hypothetical scenarios onto seven factors. These seven factors accounted for 62.2% of the variance.
  • The first four factors were classified as “Ethology-informed Management”, “Traditional Horse Management”, “Emotional Issues”, and “Physical Issues”.

Findings

  • The study found that participants were more likely to consider euthanasia for physical issues than for affective state and/or ethology-related issues. This either suggests ignorance towards mental health-related welfare issues or failure to recognize them.
  • Several respondents stated that the provided scenario had no impact on whether a horse should be euthanised, indicating a lack of awareness about welfare issues and their implications.
  • When asked to state their reasons for euthanising their horses, participants mainly pointed out physical reasons, with a small number including affective and/or ethological factors.
  • The results suggest that welfare issues concerning a horse’s affective state and/or behaviour might be overlooked when making end-of-life decisions.

Cite This Article

APA
Bell C, Rogers S. (2021). Attitudes of the Equestrian Public towards Equine End-of-Life Decisions. Animals (Basel), 11(6), 1776. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061776

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 11
Issue: 6
PII: 1776

Researcher Affiliations

Bell, Catherine
  • Equine Behaviour and Training Association, Godalming GU8 6AX, UK.
Rogers, Suzanne
  • Equine Behaviour and Training Association, Godalming GU8 6AX, UK.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Citations

This article has been cited 4 times.
  1. Smith R, Furtado T, Brigden C, Pinchbeck G, Perkins E. A Qualitative Exploration of UK Leisure Horse Owners' Perceptions of Equine Wellbeing. Animals (Basel) 2022 Oct 26;12(21).
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  3. Luke KL, Rawluk A, McAdie T, Smith BP, Warren-Smith AK. How equestrians conceptualise horse welfare: Does it facilitate or hinder change?. Anim Welf 2023;32:e59.
    doi: 10.1017/awf.2023.79pubmed: 38487466google scholar: lookup
  4. Fenner K, Wilson BJ, Ermers C, McGreevy PD. Reported Agonistic Behaviours in Domestic Horses Cluster According to Context. Animals (Basel) 2024 Feb 16;14(4).
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