Henríquez-Hernández Luis Alberto, Estévez-Pérez Laura, Luzardo Octavio P, Zumbado Manuel
Faculty of Veterinary, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Paseo Blas Cabrera Felipe s/n, CP 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
Faculty of Veterinary, Autopista de Bañaderos a Las Palmas No. 80, CP 35416, Arucas, Spain.
J Vet Med Educ. 2024 Aug 2:e20230187. doi: 10.3138/jvme-2023-0187.
Animal welfare and animal abuse, although measurable, exhibit a high degree of subjectivity that conditions how they are perceived and the level of sensitivity. Both elements are influenced by individual and sociodemographic factors. To determine the perception of animal welfare among veterinary students and to study the main sociodemographic factors influencing the assessment of animal welfare. To evaluate animal welfare perception at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, a 20-question survey was deployed via the Google Surveys platform. Distributed across all academic years, it was facilitated with QR codes located within the faculty premises. The data collection occurred from November 1, 2022, to November 30, 2022. A total of 223 students responded the questionnaire about perception of animal abuse, which represents 56.3% of the total enrollment in the academic year 2022-2023. Sensitivity to animal welfare, including academic training on how to respond to animal abuse, increased as students progressed through their studies. However, as students approached the end of their studies, they became less willing to make voluntary efforts. The profile of the veterinary student least sensitive to animal abuse appeared to be men without dogs who reside in rural habitats and have family members involved in hunting or fishing. We propose the implementation of intensive courses on animal welfare throughout the veterinary curriculum, along with an understanding of the veterinarian's role in reporting animal abuse. This approach aims to foster a foundation of critical awareness and commitment to animals.
动物福利和虐待动物问题虽然可以衡量，但具有高度的主观性，这决定了人们对它们的认知方式和敏感程度。这两个因素都受到个人和社会人口因素的影响。为了确定兽医专业学生对动物福利的认知，并研究影响动物福利评估的主要社会人口因素。为了评估大加那利岛拉斯帕尔马斯大学兽医学院对动物福利的认知，通过谷歌调查平台开展了一项包含20个问题的调查。该调查分布于所有学年，通过学院内设置的二维码方便学生参与。数据收集时间为2022年11月1日至2022年11月30日。共有223名学生回答了关于虐待动物认知的问卷，这占2022 - 2023学年总入学人数的56.3%。随着学生学业的推进，他们对动物福利的敏感度，包括关于如何应对虐待动物的学术培训，有所提高。然而，随着学生临近学业结束，他们自愿付出努力的意愿降低。对虐待动物最不敏感的兽医专业学生形象似乎是居住在农村、没有养狗、家庭成员参与狩猎或捕鱼的男性。我们建议在整个兽医课程中实施关于动物福利的强化课程，同时让学生了解兽医在报告虐待动物行为中的作用。这种方法旨在培养对动物的批判性意识和责任感的基础。
