目标:被称为“流浪”的家猫威胁野生动物,以及造成社区滋扰,并导致动物收容所安乐死率高。这些猫可能会经历福利差,有助于宠物猫的数量和妥协的尝试,以控制野猫。然而,许多未拥有的家猫由半主人照顾,他们不认为自己拥有这些猫;因此,半所有者是人类行为改变干预措施的潜在重要目标人群。本研究旨在描述猫半主人的特征,并将其与猫主人和非猫主人的一般人群进行比较,以告知未来的猫管理干预措施。
方法:向新南威尔士州所有居民开放的在线问卷,澳大利亚被开发和宣传。受访者被问到:“您是否关心其他自由漫游或流浪猫(不包括您拥有的猫)?”,他们是否拥有猫,关于他们家的特点和他们与15个能力的协议,与猫遏制有关的社会机会和动机(COM)项目。
结果:收到8708人的问卷回复,包括588名半业主(7%)。半所有者更有可能是女性,生活在城市地区,住在社会经济较低的地区,租房。大多数半所有者也拥有自己的猫,并且比非半所有者拥有更多的猫。
结论:无主“流浪猫”的半所有者是人类行为改变干预措施的有价值的潜在目标受众。了解这些半主人经常有自己的猫,可能已经不堪重负的猫护理责任,并且不成比例地来自较低的社会经济背景,应该指导干预设计。需要一种细致入微的方法,优先考虑猫和半所有者的福祉,以便半所有者“购买”。任何干预措施也应该认识到半所有者经常面临多重问题,绝育或声称拥有他们所照顾的猫的复杂障碍,尤其是成本,对当局的信任。
Unowned \'
stray\' domestic cats threaten wildlife, as well as create a community nuisance and contribute to high rates of euthanasia in animal shelters. These cats can experience poor welfare, contribute to the pet cat population and compromise attempts to control feral cats. However, many unowned domestic cats are cared for by semi-owners who do not consider they own these cats; therefore, semi-owners are a potentially important target population for human behaviour change interventions. The present study aimed to describe the characteristics of cat semi-owners and compare these with the general population of cat owners and non-cat owners to inform future cat management interventions.
An online questionnaire open to all residents of New South Wales, Australia was developed and advertised. Respondents were asked \'do you care for other free-roaming or
stray cats (not including the cats you own)?\', whether they owned cats, about characteristics of their home and their agreement with 15 capability, social opportunity and motivation (COM) items relating to cat containment.
Questionnaire responses were received from 8708 people, including 588 semi-owners (7%). Semi-owners were significantly more likely to be female, live in urban areas, live in lower socioeconomic areas and rent their home. Most semi-owners also owned their own cats and owned more cats than non-semi-owners.
Semi-owners of unowned \'
stray\' cats are a valuable potential target audience for human behaviour change interventions. Understanding that these semi-owners often have their own cats, might already be overwhelmed with cat-caring responsibilities and are disproportionately from lower socioeconomic backgrounds should guide intervention design. A nuanced approach is needed that prioritises the wellbeing of cats and semi-owners for semi-owners to \'buy in\'. Any intervention should also recognise that semi-owners often face multiple, complex barriers to neutering or claiming ownership of the cats they care for, especially cost, and trust in the authorities.