Assessing the Level of Awareness of Animal Cruelty in Companion Animals Among the Residents of Negeri Sembilan

Abstract

Animal cruelty refers to a wide range of behaviours harmful to animals, ranging from neglect to malicious killing. Animal Cruelty has several types which may be one of gross neglect, simple neglect, animal hoarding, organized abuse, intentional abuse, ritualistic abuse or animal sexual assault. In recent years, animal cruelty has stirred into the limelight as the number of reported incidences of abuse has increased that the public should be aware of. In Malaysia, the continuous emergence of animal cruelty often gets highlighted in the mass and social media. The study of animal cruelty awareness based on the “Five Domains” mainly in pet animals is underexplored in Malaysia. These Five Domians consist of good nutrition, good environment, good health, appropriate behaviour and positive mental experiences. This study was carried out to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitude, and awareness towards animal cruelty in companion animals among the residents of Negeri Sembilan and the relationship across the subgroups such as gender, age categories, districts, religion status, educational level as well as pet ownership. By employing simple random method, a total of 385 samples were collected from each district via the dissemination of questionnaire through Google form, to improve the understanding and sensibility of animal cruelty issues. The result of the study revealed found that women who are aged from 18 to 39 years demonstrated higher awareness compared to males. Good animal cruelty knowledge is associated with higher educational level while low educational population have the least awareness and knowledge level. Besides, individuals who are tied to strong religious believes has lower awareness compares to non-religious people. The urban dwellers namely residents of Seremban and Port Dickson have had good knowledge and animal cruelty awareness compared to rural residents from Tampin. Individuals who own pets also expressed greater concerns for animal welfare than those who did not have pets as they have more interaction with animals on daily basis. Overall, residents of Negeri Sembilan have good level of awareness. Keywords: awareness, animal cruelty, animal welfare, five domains