Attitudes and Beliefs of a Sample of Australian Dog and Cat Owners towards Pet Confinement

SIMPLE SUMMARY: In Australia, most cats and dogs entering animal shelters and pounds are classed as strays, typically from low-income areas. Most dogs and an unknown proportion of stray cats are escaped or wandering owned pets. Many of these stray animals are euthanized, negatively impacting the mental health of staff involved, and increasing the risk of depression, traumatic stress, substance abuse and suicide. Modern sheltering practices aim to reduce the number of stray cats and dogs, which reduces shelter admissions and euthanasia. Australian pet owners (n = 2103) were surveyed about their attitudes towards four types of pet confinement. Dog owners showed the strongest support for confining dogs to the owners’ property whenever unsupervised and less support for confining dogs inside the house at night (54% agreed), while 23% believed dogs had a negative impact on wildlife. Cat owners showed the strongest support for confining cats inside at night. Cat owners’ non-supportive attitudes towards cat confinement were partly because of higher concern for cat quality of life and lower concern about their cats’ predation behaviors, compared to non-cat owners. These results provide valuable information to inform more effective strategies to reduce stray animals and associated issues. ABSTRACT: Most cats and dogs entering Australian animal shelters and municipal facilities are classed as strays, typically from low socio-economic areas. Contemporary practices increasingly focus on proactively reducing the number of stray animals, which requires further understanding of factors associated with straying animals, including pet confinement. Australian cat and dog owners (n = 2103) were surveyed to investigate attitudes towards four types of pet confinement and how these were influenced by social norms, demographics and concerns about pet quality of life and potential wildlife predation. Dog owners showed the strongest support for confining dogs to the owners’ property whenever unsupervised (98% agreement) and less support for confining dogs inside the house at night (54% agreement), and only 23% believed dogs had a negative impact on wildlife. Cat owners showed the strongest support for confining cats inside the house at night (89% agreement). Cat owners’ non-supportive attitudes towards cat confinement were partly because of higher concern for cat quality of life and lower concern about their cats’ predation behaviours, compared to non-cat owners. The findings provide valuable information to inform more effective strategies to reduce stray animals which would reduce shelter admissions, euthanasia, costs, nuisance issues, potential wildlife predation and negative mental health impacts of euthanasia on staff. Strategies to reduce strays include assisting low-income pet owners to install effective fencing and programs to increase identification. Informing cat owners about bedtime feeding is recommended to assist with night containment, and providing high-intensity free sterilization of owned and semi-owned cats targeted to areas of high cat impoundments is also recommended.