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Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2018; 8(11); doi: 10.3390/ani8110201

Examining Canadian Equine Industry Participants’ Perceptions of Horses and Their Welfare.

Abstract: The diversity of the Canadian equine industry makes determining baseline attitudes and beliefs a challenge. Adult members of the Canadian equine industry (n = 901) participated in an online survey to report demographic information and views on the role of horses and their ability to experience affective states. Questions regarding the welfare state of all horses in the industry, potential ways to address welfare issues, and eight short scenarios were presented. Qualitative analysis, descriptive statistics, and a Chi-squared test for independence examined survey results and potential relationships. Participants strongly believed horses were capable of feeling positive and negative emotions, particularly pain and fear, but rarely were these beliefs reflected in their answers regarding aspects of equine welfare, which may be due to the large bias in these beliefs. Lack of knowledge and financial difficulties were noted as the biggest threats to equine welfare. Overall, there was widespread agreement regarding the presence of welfare issues within the equine industry, but opinions were more divided regarding how to best address them and which horses were most at risk. Understanding these perceptions may be useful to direct educational programs and industry-wide initiatives to address equine welfare through human behaviour change.
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Publication Date: 2018-11-07 PubMed ID: 30405030PubMed Central: PMC6262281DOI: 10.3390/ani8110201Google 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.

This study explores the perceptions and beliefs of participants in the Canadian equine industry about horse welfare, their ability to experience different emotions, and suggestions on how to improve these conditions. The study identifies some notable incongruences between the beliefs and the actual state of horse welfare, providing insights to address these gaps through educational programs and industry initiatives.

Survey Design and Participants

  • The paper details a survey taken by 901 adult participants who are involved in the Canadian equine industry. The survey was designed to be detailed enough to gain comprehensive information on the demographics of participants and their views about horses, including their roles and their capacity to experience different affective states.
  • The participants were asked about their perceptions of the welfare of all horses in the industry, and also given a chance to suggest possible solutions to any perceived welfare issues. The survey also presented eight short scenarios for the participants to react to.

Analysis of Survey Results

  • The analysis of the survey results involved qualitative analysis, descriptive statistics, and Chi-squared tests. The authors were interested in examining the participants’ beliefs about horses and their welfare and identifying any potential relationships or trends in these beliefs.
  • Most participants strongly believed that horses could experience positive and negative emotions, especially fear and pain. However, these beliefs were not always reflected in their responses about specific welfare aspects.
  • The authors note that these disparities may be due to biases in the participants’ beliefs. This could be because the participants are deep-seated in their industry and could hold beliefs based on traditional or popular practices, or be susceptible to subjective judgments influenced by their personal experiences or affiliations.

Perceived Threats to Equine Welfare and Possible Solutions

  • The survey respondents commonly mentioned lack of knowledge and financial difficulties as the main threats to equine welfare. This suggests that ensuring better education about horse welfare and providing greater financial support could significantly improve the conditions.
  • Although the participants agreed broadly that there were welfare issues within the equine industry, they had more varied opinions on how to address these issues and which horses were most at risk.

Implications and Future Directions

  • The study provides valuable insight into the current perceptions within the Canadian equine industry and reveals some gaps between the participants’ beliefs and the actual state of horse welfare.
  • Understanding these perceptions can help the industry and educators to develop effective programs to increase awareness and foster positive changes in human behavior towards horses.
  • Additionally, industry-wide initiatives that address the identified threats (like knowledge gaps and financial issues) and prioritize the welfare needs of the most at risk horses could be beneficial.

Cite This Article

APA
DuBois C, Nakonechny L, Derisoud E, Merkies K. (2018). Examining Canadian Equine Industry Participants’ Perceptions of Horses and Their Welfare. Animals (Basel), 8(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/ani8110201

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 8
Issue: 11

Researcher Affiliations

DuBois, Cordelie
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. cdubois@uoguelph.ca.
  • Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. cdubois@uoguelph.ca.
Nakonechny, Lindsay
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. ljnakone@gmail.com.
  • Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. ljnakone@gmail.com.
Derisoud, Emilie
  • Agrocampus Ouest, 65 rue de Saint-Brieuc, CS 84215, 35042 Rennes CEDEX, France. emilie.derisoud@gmail.com.
Merkies, Katrina
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. kmerkies@uoguelph.ca.
  • Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. kmerkies@uoguelph.ca.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Citations

This article has been cited 17 times.
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