An exploration of attitudes toward dogs among college students in Bangalore, India

Title

An exploration of attitudes toward dogs among college students in Bangalore, India

Creator

Volsche S.; Mohan M.; Gray P.B.; Rangaswamy M.

Description

Conversations in the field of anthrozoology include treatment and distinction of food animals, animals as workers versus pests, and most recently, emerging pet trends including the practice of pet parenting. This paper explores attitudes toward pet dogs in the shared social space of urban India. The data include 375 pen-and-paper surveys from students at CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in Bangalore, India. Reflecting upon Serpells biaxial concept of dogs as a relationship of affect and utility, the paper considers the growing trend of pet dog keeping in urban spaces and the increased use of affiliative words to describe these relationships. The paper also explores potential sex differences in attitudes towards pet and stray dogs. Ultimately, these findings suggest that the presence of and affiliation with pet dogs, with reduced utility and increased affect, is symptomatic of cultural changes typical of societies encountering the second demographic transition. Despite this, sex differences as expected based upon evolutionary principles, remain present, with women more likely to emphasize health and welfare and men more likely to emphasize bravery and risk taking. 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Source

Animals, Vol-9, No. 8

Date

2019-01-01

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Anthrozoology; Attitudes; Companion animals; Dogs; Human-animal interactions; India; Pet dogs; Shared spaces; Street dogs; Urban dogs

Coverage

Volsche S., Boise State University, Boise, 83725, ID, United States; Mohan M., CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, 560029, Karnataka, India; Gray P.B., University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, 89154, NV, United States; Rangaswamy M., CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, 560029, Karnataka, India

Rights

All Open Access; Gold Open Access; Green Open Access

Relation

ISSN: 20762615

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080514

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85070664334&doi=10.3390%2fani9080514&partnerID=40&md5=958e0283b4cad74326ce8790e2df88b0