Chambers Chloe, Ly Lexis H, Protopopova Alexandra
Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 Apr 30;12:1527196. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1527196. eCollection 2025.
The effect of drug use on physical health, mental wellbeing, and quality of life can extend to family members, including children, and even companion animals. People who use drugs, a medically vulnerable population, face stigma and shaming when accessing healthcare services that engender mistrust and hinder future access. Yet, in an emergency where a pet has accidentally ingested drugs, there is no research on whether this stigma may prevent owners from seeking veterinary help. The objectives of this study were to describe actions taken by pet owners after accidental pet drug poisonings in Vancouver, British Columbia and understand how drug use-related stigma is associated with owners' decision to seek veterinary care.
We surveyed two populations of pet owners, a general population recruited online ( = 82) and a sample recruited in-person at two outreach services that assist low-income pet owners in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver ( = 32). Participants who had not experienced a pet poisoning were asked about their actions and attitudes in a hypothetical drug poisoning event.
Within the general population sample, 64 (78%) responded based on a hypothetical scenario, and in this group, the concern that a veterinarian might remove their animal was associated with higher self-reported discrimination in three domains: general discrimination, discrimination accessing non-health services, and discrimination accessing health-related services. A higher perceived experience of discrimination within each category was also associated with a greater concern that veterinary staff might report them to the authorities or social services, as well as an increased expectation of hiding information from a veterinarian, including information about what drug the animal ingested and how the animal was exposed. Those who had experienced a poisoning emergency were asked about their actions and encounters in the most recent poisoning. More than half sought veterinary assistance. Among those that did not, some reasons owners avoided veterinary care included confidence in their ability to treat the animal at home ( = 5), or fear of discrimination ( = 1) or punishment ( = 1).
Our findings suggest that drug use-related stigma may contribute to a hesitancy to seek veterinary care or fully disclose information in an accidental pet poisoning.
药物使用对身体健康、心理健康和生活质量的影响可能会延伸到家庭成员，包括儿童，甚至伴侣动物。吸毒者作为医疗上易受伤害的人群，在获得医疗服务时面临耻辱和羞辱，这会导致不信任并阻碍未来的就医机会。然而，在宠物意外摄入药物的紧急情况下，尚无研究探讨这种耻辱感是否会阻止主人寻求兽医帮助。本研究的目的是描述不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华市宠物主人在宠物意外药物中毒后采取的行动，并了解与药物使用相关的耻辱感如何与主人寻求兽医护理的决定相关联。
我们对两类宠物主人进行了调查，一类是通过网络招募的普通人群（n = 82），另一类是在温哥华市中心东区为低收入宠物主人提供帮助的两个外展服务机构亲自招募的样本（n = 32）。未经历过宠物中毒的参与者被问及他们在假设的药物中毒事件中的行动和态度。
在普通人群样本中，64人（78%）根据假设情景做出了回应，在这一组中，担心兽医可能会带走他们的动物与在三个方面更高的自我报告歧视相关：一般歧视、获取非医疗服务时的歧视以及获取与健康相关服务时的歧视。在每个类别中更高的感知歧视经历也与更担心兽医工作人员可能会向当局或社会服务机构举报他们，以及增加向兽医隐瞒信息的期望相关，包括动物摄入了什么药物以及动物是如何接触到药物的信息。那些经历过中毒紧急情况的人被问及他们在最近一次中毒事件中的行动和遭遇。超过一半的人寻求了兽医帮助。在那些没有寻求帮助的人中，主人避免寻求兽医护理的一些原因包括对自己在家治疗动物的能力有信心（n = 5），或者害怕受到歧视（n = 1）或惩罚（n = 1）。
我们的研究结果表明，与药物使用相关的耻辱感可能导致在宠物意外中毒时寻求兽医护理或充分披露信息方面的犹豫。
