SHORT ONLINE SURVEY ABOUT DOG WELFARE AND KENNEL FACILITIES

My name is Mia Cobb and I am conducting an online survey as part of my PhD research at Monash University in Australia.

I am looking for people aged 18 and over who will complete a short and anonymous online questionnaire. The questionnaire takes around 10 minutes to complete and asks questions about your attitudes towards the welfare of dogs and kennel facilities, as well as a few general questions about yourself.

The questionnaire is not restricted to Australian participants and you do not need to have had any direct experience with a kennel facility to take part.
You don't have to be a dog owner or even 'like' dogs to participate.

Public opinion is often a driving force in the provision of care for animals housed in captivity. Therefore, a survey is important to accurately establish the views of the general public as well as dog trainers and primary care givers (such as kennel attendant staff) who are generally directly responsible for decisions regarding the care provided to dogs housed in kennel facilities.

Please follow this link to read the ‘Participant Information Explanatory Statement’ in full and to commence the survey.

Attitudes regarding the welfare of dogs housed in kennel facilities questionnaire

Please forward this invitation to any colleagues, friends, family or other contacts who may also be interested in participating.
(PDF attached for easy forwarding via email)

Thank you for your time,

Mia Cobb

Attached Files

DogWelfareSurvey09.pdf (89.7 KB, 9 views)

Very interesting survey, just completed it! I'd be interested to do the results. What's your hypothesis for your thesis?

Hi Nelly,

My entire research project is looking at the effects of a composite enrichment program (comprising social and environmental enrichment) on the welfare of dogs housed in a working dog kennel facility.

This survey is a really important component outside of the true 'experiment' part of the study as it will provide insight into general community attitudes and allow me to compare the attitudes/perceptions between different 'groups' such as those who work within kennel facilities and those who have no experience. My hypothesis is that we'll find significant differences in attitudes/perceptions between general public, dog trainers and also primary care staff (like kennel attendants).

While attitudes and perceptions regarding the welfare of dogs housed in kennel facilities are driving the level of care and welfare provision for these dogs, there is currently no information beyond informal anecdotal information available to researchers. This survey will provide relevant information, in a reportable format, regarding people’s attitudes and perceptions concerning dogs housed in kennel facilities.

This is really relevant if we want to effect any policy changes to provide improved welfare for dogs in kennel facilities.

I hope this helps to answer your question - if not, please feel free to email me directly at: mia.cobb@med.monash.edu.au

Best regards,

Mia

and THANKS for completing the survey!

Survey done,as said above it will be interesting to see results,and how peoples views are different according to the country they live in.

Thanks! I'll be sure to report back start of next year and let you know what I found!



Mia

I've just completed the survey. The only thing I would add is that in my experience, kennels, kennel facilities, kennel management and the "ethos" of kennels are so diverse that it is perhaps a little meaningless to talk about "Kennels" as some kind of comprehensive category. I have seen kennels where I have felt sorry for the rats that infest them and others that I would be happy to live in myself - to group them together isn't altogether helpful.
Just a thought!

Regards

Mick

__________________
DREAMCATCHER SIBERIAN HUSKIES
Siberian Husky Welfare Association (UK)
"For I am a raindog too!" - Tom Waits
"Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see" - Benjamin Franklin
"As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities" - Voltaire

Thanks for doing the survey Mick - you raise a valid point.

However, legislation regarding minimum levels of care provision, tend to lump them all together (or sometimes break them down into boarding/training/breeding/greyhound but beyond that don't acknowledge higher quality over lower quality) and the general public (not working or experienced in the industry) do this as well.

Public opinion is usually the driving force in development of minimum requirements and improvements to the provision of care for animals housed in captivity. Hence, a survey is important to accurately establish the views of the general public. As working dog trainers and primary care givers are generally directly responsible for decisions regarding the facets of care and general husbandry provided to dogs housed in kennels, these two groups are also be targeted and their attitudes and perceptions recorded. It is expected that significant differences may be demonstrated between general public, dog trainer and primary care giver groups.

While attitudes and perceptions regarding the welfare of dogs housed in kennel facilities are driving the level of care and welfare provision for these dogs, there is currently no information beyond anecdotal information available to researchers. This survey will provide relevant information, in a reportable format, regarding people’s attitudes and perceptions concerning dogs housed in kennel facilities. It will also reveal how the perceptions of the public are comparable to those of people who work with the dogs in various ways.

This is becoming a common response I'm getting back from people working within the industry which is great - you all have a broader level of understanding that the 'average joe'. I will be sure to report on this when the survey eventually closes and the results are interpreted.

In guiding others who may not have yet participated in the survey, I would encourage you to respond in general terms (ie. think of it as 'most kennel facilities' or 'in general, kennel facilities are...") as this will most accurately reflect your perceptions and attitudes.

Hope this helps - if you have any further comments or questions, you can email me directly at mia.cobb@med.monash.edu.au.

Cheers,

Mia

good suvey but you have to realise the majority of dog owners know very little about working kennels so this will have to be included in your analysis

Thanks James!

It's going to be really interesting when we get to analysing the results in the new year. This survey is being distributed across general community (people who don't own, or sometimes even 'like' dogs) - their attitudes are also driving the care of dogs through legislation, etc. so you're totally right that our respondents will represent very different sectors of the community.

Can't wait to come back and tell you about the results!