Citizens’ Perception of Animal Abuse Cases Published on the District Institute for the Protection and Welfare of Animals’ Social Networks in Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract

<p>In recent years, the human-animal bond has made significant progress. This progress includes increasing awareness of animal abuse, and recognizing it as an indicator of social and human welfare under the One Welfare approach. The goal of this study was to identify the citizen’s perception on cases of animal abuse published in the social networks of the District Institute for Animal Protection and Welfare (Idpyba, by its Spanish acronym) in Bogotá, Colombia. Netnographic tools were used to analyze the data to classify each case by type of abuse; to examine the interactions of the interested public, and to discern the intention of the most relevant comments. In a 1-year period, 42 cases were published on the Idpyba social networks. The most frequent types of abuse were negligence (52.4%; n: 22), abandonment (14.3%; n: 6), physical abuse (14.3%; n: 6) and emotional abuse (14.3%; n: 6). The most notable cases to the public were related to neglect and abandonment. The most one-click reactions were noticeable in cases pertaining to abandonment, and the cases which produced the highest amount of comments were related to emotional abuse. Upon examining the number of times the publications were shared, the greatest impact was represented by emotional abuse (94,2%; n: 565). Additionally, the most frequent viewer comment intent was to express an opinion on the subject matter (40%; n: 691), followed by comment intent for content support (34.8%; n: 600). Also, the data collected here show a general empathetic reaction of citizens to various forms of animal abuse. In addition, it is concluded that citizens perceive as an appropriate action that the custody of each animal is transferred to an animal care institution. It is proposed that sharing animal care practices with communities from a One Welfare approach, with direct impact on the mental and physical health of the people involved, emerges as an argument that can motivate change and improve the perception of animal sentience.</p>