title: Results of a national survey of US veterinary college faculty regarding attitudes toward farm animal welfare.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine attitudes toward farm animal welfare among veterinary college faculty.
  
  
  METHODS
  E-mail survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  157 US veterinary college faculty with large animal or food animal emphasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Veterinarians from 27 US veterinary colleges were contacted via e-mail and asked to complete a 7-page survey relating to farm animal welfare issues. Thirty-one percent of those contacted responded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  71% of respondents self-characterized their attitude toward farm animal welfare as "we can use animals for the greater human good but have an obligation to provide for the majority of the animals' physiologic and behavioral needs." An additional 19% of respondents were more concerned about animal welfare than was indicated by that statement, and 10% were less concerned about farm animal welfare than was indicated by that statement. Significant relationships among demographic variables and attitude scores were observed, including more concerned attitudes among females, those with more liberal political views, and those who cited lower religiosity. No relationship between attitude and age was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Veterinary college faculty have the opportunity to impact many stakeholders within the animal agriculture industries (eg, future veterinarians and policy makers looking for a veterinary science perspective). Results indicated that a considerable level of concern toward farm animal welfare is present in this population. Although the process of change may not be rapid, it is likely that the influence of these respondents will factor heavily into enhancing farm animal welfare.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Camie R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Heleski
authors.forename: Angela G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Mertig
authors.forename: Adroaldo J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Zanella
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods*; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001290:Attitude; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012582:Schools, Veterinary; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D018634:Veterinarians / Q000523:psychology*