Pets as family and pigs in crates: Public attitudes towards farrowing crates*

Restricting farm animals? movement is a highly contentious practice, and yet farrowing crates are widely used to house lactating sows and piglets. Socially sustainable changes on farrowing systems may be compromised due to the lack of information on societal attitudes towards farrowing crates. Attitudes are shaped by an individual?s experiences and beliefs; having a pet may influence belief in animal sentience and empathy towards animals, and thus public concern towards animal welfare. Therefore, understanding peoples? attitudes towards farrowing crates can contribute to future decisions on that matter. This study aimed at investigating the influence of sociodemographic characteristics, including having a pet and perceived relationship with pet, on Brazilian citizens? attitudes towards farrowing crates. People who had pets or not (Sv1) and people who had a dog or cat (Sv2) were recruited online to participate in two surveys. We provided a brief text and two short videos illustrating conventional farrowing crates and asked participants to rate, in 5-point Likert scales, their attitudes towards farrowing crates and to justify their answer. In Sv2 we also asked people to indicate whether they regarded their pet as a child, a family member, a friend or an animal. Seventy five percent of the participants (Sv1, n = 891; Sv2, n = 1048) were opposed to housing pigs in farrowing crates. Attitudes towards farrowing crates were positively correlated with the perceived quality of life of the sows (Sv1: r = 0.77, p < 0.001; Sv2: r = 0.76, p < 0.001) and piglets (Sv1: r = 0.75, p < 0.001; Sv2: r = 0.7, p < 0.001). Lower attitude scores were associated with participants? being females, urbanites, with no involvement in livestock, no previous awareness of the practice, as well as with attributing higher sentience to pigs, having a pet, and regarding it as a child or member of the family (p < 0.001). Having a pet (Sv1, Ch-Sq = 9.1, 1 df, p = 0.002) and regarding the pet a child or member of the family (Sv2, Ch-Sq = 49.3, 3 df, p < 0.001) led to greater agreement with the statement ?I feel bad for the sow?. Opposition to farrowing crates was underpinned by belief in animal sentience, empathy towards animals, and animal welfare concerns. Throughout the world, urban citizens are becoming increasingly detached from livestock production; pets are the main reference animals for many and, in some cases, part of the family. Thus, our findings suggest that restrictive housing systems for farm animals may become increasingly irreconcilable with societal values.

Automated summary

This study investigated the impact of sociodemographic characteristics, including pet ownership and perceived relationship with pets, on Brazilian citizens' attitudes towards farrowing crates. It found that a significant proportion of people opposed housing pigs in farrowing crates, with attitudes correlating with perceived quality of life for sows and piglets. Factors influencing opposition to farrowing crates included belief in animal sentience, empathy towards animals, and pet ownership. Urban citizens, detached from livestock production, may find restrictive housing systems for farm animals increasingly at odds with societal values.