title: Attitudes toward companion animals among Hispanic residents of a Texas border community.
abstract: The researchers surveyed 206 residents of a Hispanic community on the Texas-Mexico border about their behaviors and attitudes toward companion animals. Selected members of the community administered a telephone survey to a systematic random sample of 206 individuals. The majority of participants believed that free-roaming dogs were a problem in their community, and nearly 81% responded that these dogs sometimes prevented them from walking outdoors. About 24% of dog guardians sometimes let their nonhuman animals roam free in the streets. Most study participants believed it was a good idea to sterilize both male and female dogs and cats, but only 11% of respondents' dogs and 27% of cats were sterilized. About 62% of households chained dogs outdoors; persons with an elementary-level education were 7 times more likely to chain their dogs than those who had completed some high school. The Hispanic population of the United States is growing rapidly; to guide officials charged with protecting animal welfare and the public health, it will become increasingly important to understand Hispanics' attitudes and behaviors toward companion animals.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Texas, El Paso, TX 79902, USA. jeposs@utep.edu
authors.forename: Jane E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Poss
authors.forename: Julia O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Bader
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods*; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001290:Attitude; D002369:Castration / Q000523:psychology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002415:Cats; D004285:Dogs; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013781:Texas; D014611:Vaccination / Q000523:psychology / Q000662:veterinary*