Visitors’ Self-Reported Knowledge and Attitudes about an Animal-Free Exhibit on Animal Welfare.

This study explores whether an animal welfare exhibit without live animals at public events can influence the knowledge and decision-making behavior related to animal welfare among visitors. Results show that most attendees do gain new information and claim they will consider this in future decisions, affirming the potential effectiveness of such exhibits.

Research Purpose and Methodology

• The aim of this study was to gauge the effectiveness of an interactive animal-free exhibit in raising awareness and driving attitude changes about animal welfare among the general public.
• The research team set up the exhibit providing information about the behavior and welfare of various animals at two different public events in the Midwestern United States. The animals featured in the exhibit included cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, poultry, horses, cats, and dogs.
• Visitor feedback was gathered through surveys to understand their level of awareness and intentions related to animal welfare before and after visiting the exhibit.

Survey Findings

• Most survey respondents reported gaining new information from the exhibit — 60% from Purdue University Spring Fest (FEST) and 74.47% from the Indiana State Fair (FAIR).
• A significant proportion of visitors at both events (FAIR: 70.37%; FAIR: 76.19) indicated that this newly-acquired knowledge would influence their future decision-making process regarding animal welfare.
• There was a pronounced improvement in the understanding of animal welfare after visiting the exhibit, as reported by 67.86% (FEST) and 71.11% (FAIR) of attendees respectively.

Conclusions and Future Directions

• The findings suggest that animal-free exhibits providing valuable information about animal welfare can play a positive role in enhancing the visitors’ understanding of animal welfare issues and influencing their future decisions.
• Despite the promising results, the researchers emphasize that additional research is needed to examine long-term impacts of such animal welfare exhibits on knowledge retention, decisions, and behavior of visitors in relation to animal welfare.