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Attitudes to Dogs in Taiwan: A Case Study

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Companion Animals in Everyday Life

Abstract

Despite the dog’s long mutualistic association with humans, global attitudes toward the species, Canis familiaris, are exceedingly diverse, ranging from overwhelmingly positive in most Western countries to predominantly negative in many developing nations. Since attitudes are important predictors of dog-related behavior, knowledge of the forces and factors that affect people’s attitudes to dogs can make an important contribution to improving dog-human relations, global public health, and canine welfare. This chapter explores some of the key factors influencing dog-related attitudes and behavior, with particular reference to the results of a case study of attitudes to dogs in Taiwan. The findings suggest that people’s attitudes to dogs involve both affective/emotional and instrumental/practical components, and that a significant minority of people in Taiwan are opposed to the killing/euthanasia of unwanted dogs. The most important determinant of both positive affective attitudes to dogs and opposition to killing/euthanasia was the experience of growing up with household dogs. The significance of these and other findings are discussed from the perspective of animal attitude development, and dog welfare and population management.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Andrew Rowan and the Humane Society of the United States for supporting this project, and Dr. Lucia Liu Severinghaus and the Office of Survey Research at the Academia Sinica (Taipei) for their help with various aspects of the study. We are also grateful to the many Taiwanese people who gave their time to participate in our research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    James A. Serpell

  2. Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Yuying Hsu

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  1. James A. Serpell
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  2. Yuying Hsu
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Warsaw University of Technology, Poland

    Michał Piotr Pręgowski

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Serpell, J.A., Hsu, Y. (2016). Attitudes to Dogs in Taiwan: A Case Study. In: Pręgowski, M. (eds) Companion Animals in Everyday Life. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59572-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59572-0_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

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