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Worldwide community concerns include the public nuisance caused by cats caterwauling, shedding fur, defecating or urinating in public places or on neighbors' ...
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VOLUME 26, ISSUE 2 PP. 198–211

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Attitudes toward Responsible Pet Ownership Behaviors in Singaporean Cat Owners Sathiavaani Gunaseelan, Grahame J. Coleman and Samia R. Toukhsati

ABSTRACT Improving the welfare of companion cats requires that owners engage in responsible cat ownership practices. An important facet of understanding engagement in responsible cat ownership behaviors involves identifying the psychosocial processes that predict whether cat owners engage, or fail to engage, in responsible cat ownership behaviors. The aim of this study was to use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a conceptual framework to understand engagement in responsible cat ownership practices such as de-sexing, paying for the care of cats, and containment of cats. An online questionnaire was completed by 274 Singaporean cat owners to investigate the relationship between the constructs of the TPB (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions) and actual engagement in responsible cat ownership behaviors. With only one exception, all respondents indicated having engaged in at least one responsible cat ownership practice. Forward stepwise binary logistic regression analyses revealed that responsible cat ownership behaviors were predicted by demographic and TPB variables. Cat de-sexing was predicted by attitudes and perceived behavioral control, while paying for the care of a cat was predicted by employment status and perceived behavioral control. Cat containment practices were predicted by gender, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. These findings may be used to develop targeted educational programs to promote engagement in responsible cat ownership behaviors.

Keywords: attitude, behavior, belief, culture, responsible cat ownership The implications of irresponsible cat ownership practices on the community and on the welfare of cats are substantial. For instance, failure to sterilize or contain cats to a property may result in uncontrolled breeding, which may contribute toward a greater ease of disease transmission (e.g., feline immune deficiency syndrome and feline leukemia; Bernstein 2007) and involvement in road traffic accidents or predation by dogs or other animals (Rochlitz 2005).



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Address for correspondence: Dr Samia Toukhsati, Adjunct, School of Psychology & Psychiatry, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]

Anthrozoös DOI: 10.2752/175303713X13636846944123

School of Psychology & Psychiatry, Animal Welfare Science Centre, Monash University, Australia

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Attitudes toward Responsible Pet Ownership Behaviors in Singaporean Cat Owners

Moreover, although animal welfare agencies continue to seek more ethically palatable methods of animal management, failure to contain cats may result in their being impounded and euthanized if not claimed by owners or adopted. Worldwide community concerns include the public nuisance caused by cats caterwauling, shedding fur, defecating or urinating in public places or on neighbors’ properties (Ash and Adams 2003), and wildlife predation (Grayson, Calver and Styles 2002; Lilith et al. 2006). Management of these matters, arising as a consequence of human behaviors, uses resources arguably invested to greater community benefit elsewhere. Engagement in responsible pet ownership practices has been shown to benefit animals by improving their safety and health conditions (Spain, Scarlett and Houpt 2004; Rochlitz 2005; Sturgess and Hurley 2007) and can be predicted on the basis of several known demographic factors. For instance, higher numbers of older female cats, compared with younger cats, tend to be sterilized (Rowan and Williams 1989). Moreover, in research emerging from developed nations, there is evidence that tertiary educated, female owners over the age of 40 are most likely to engage in responsible cat ownership behaviors (Selby et al. 1979; Manning and Rowan 1992; Toukhsati, Bennett and Coleman 2007; McKay, Farnworth and Waran 2009; Cocia and Rusu 2010). Attitudes have also been linked to a range of human behaviors toward companion animals (Toukhsati, Bennett and Coleman 2007; Rohlf et al. 2010a; 2010b). The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) proposes that attitudes influence our intentions to perform a given behavior, alongside our perceived capacity, and perceived pressure from others, to perform it. As might be expected, the greater the alignment between these psychosocial constructs and the behavior/s in question (e.g., attitudes toward the specific behavior), the greater their predictive validity. Beliefs regarding the consequences, behavioral expectations of important others, and the feasibility of a given behavior, are antecedent to attitudes toward a behavior. Notably, antecedent to beliefs and attitudes are background factors such as personal (e.g., emotions and values), social (e.g., religion and ethnicity) and informational (e.g., experience and knowledge) factors (Ajzen 2005) (see Figure 1). Several meta-analyses have pointed to the applicability of the TPB in predicting and explaining a broad spectrum of human behaviors (Godin and Kok 1996; Armitage and Conner 2001; Armitage and Christian 2003). In recent times, studies purporting to predict and explain human behavior in relation to companion animals have utilized the TPB, and results from these studies have given support to its utility in this arena (Rohlf et al. 2010a, 2010b; Toukhsati et al. 2012a). The prominence of background factors in shaping beliefs, attitudes, and behavior suggests that the TPB may have some utility in research that seeks to better understand the cultural context of behavior; this is particularly important here given that little research has been undertaken to explore psychosocial factors and human–animal interactions in non-western contexts. That is, as the TPB suggests, pet-keeping practices may be influenced by a variety of cultural and religious factors (Hood 1998); correspondingly, these practices are best understood and interpreted in the cultural context of the local population (Dresden and Coultis 2005). Research that uses the TBP to explore pet ownership in non-western settings would, therefore, be useful to inform policy makers as to possible future directions, such as targeted public education in this area. The principle aim of this study was to identify demographic and psychosocial factors that predict responsible ownership behaviors in Singaporean cat owners. As has been

Gunaseelan et al.

Behavioral Beliefs

Attitude toward the Behavior

Normative Beliefs

Subjective Norm

Control Beliefs

Perceived Behavioral Control

Copyright ©2005 Icek Ajzen

Intention

Behavior

Figure 1. Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen 2005) (reprinted with permission).

reported elsewhere (Rohlf et al. 2010a), responsible owners tend to be more easily recruited than their irresponsible counterparts. Nonetheless, by highlighting factors that may be targeted in education programs, there is considerable value in research that undertakes to index compliance levels and identify psychosocial factors amongst groups that practice responsible ownership behaviors (Rohlf et al. 2010a). First, we explored the prevalence of engagement in responsible cat ownership behaviors in Singaporeans and compared this with research that has identified the pattern of engagement in responsible ownership practices elsewhere. Second, we identified demographic and psychosocial factors that predict engagement in responsible cat ownership behaviors. In line with the TPB, it is hypothesized that beliefs and attitudes toward responsible ownership behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control over responsible ownership behaviors will each predict the intention to engage in responsible ownership behaviors and, in turn, actual engagement in each of three responsible ownership behaviors (i.e., de-sexing, paying for the care, and containment of the cat).

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Approval to conduct this study was granted by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee on May 25, 2010 (Project No. 2010/000662). The convenience sample comprised 274 participants who owned at least one cat, were at least 18 years of age and had lived in Singapore a minimum of two years at the time of volunteering. The mean age of respondents was 32.07 years (SD = 7.75) and the majority of the participants were female (83.9 %), which is consistent with prior research in the area of responsible pet ownership behaviors (Toukhsati, Bennett and Coleman 2007; Rohlf et al. 2010a). Data were collected via an online questionnaire, hosted by Surveymethods (www.survey methods.com), between June 15, 2010 and August 30, 2010. The approximate period of time taken to complete the questionnaire was between 20 to 25 minutes. A link to the online questionnaire was posted on the websites of the SPCA Singapore and the Cat Welfare Society (CWS). In addition, posters containing the link to the online questionnaire were placed in various public locations such as supermarkets. Participation was anonymous as participants were not required to provide any identifying information, and their IP addresses were concealed from the researcher.

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Methods Participants and Procedure

Attitudes toward Responsible Pet Ownership Behaviors in Singaporean Cat Owners

Materials The Community Attitudes Toward Cats Questionnaire—Singapore (CATCQS) was constructed using the manual for Constructing Questionnaires Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (Francis et al. 2004), and adapted from the Community Attitudes Toward Companion Animals Survey (CATCAS), which was developed using an iterative process and based on results obtained from a pilot study (Toukhsati, Bennett and Coleman 2007). Questions relating to attitudes toward, and the practice of, responsible pet ownership behaviors were modified to develop items that assessed the major constructs of the TPB (i.e., intentions, beliefs, attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavior). For instance, questions requiring respondents to list their main reasons for not de-sexing a cat (see Toukhsati, Bennett and Coleman 2007) were modified to require respondents to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with specific items (e.g., “My work commitments prevent me from de-sexing my cat”). The CATCQS comprises five sections: Section A: Demographics—13 forced-choice questions relating to the respondents’ age, ethnicity, religion, educational qualifications, employment status, relationship status, living arrangements, and period of residence in Singapore. Section B: Cat Ownership—six forced-choice questions relating to responsible ownership behaviors that owners had engaged in, reasons for owning a cat, and issues relating to the breeding of cats (e.g., “How many cats do you own?” “Do you feel primarily responsible for the care of your cat?”). Respondents indicating that they owned more than one cat were instructed to answer the items in reference to the oldest cat. Section C, D, and E: De-sexing of Cats, Paying for the Care of Cats, and Cat Containment—a series of forced-choice questions relating to beliefs, attitudes, and practices in regard to de-sexing owned cats (e.g., “I intend to de-sex my cat” “The decision to de-sex my cat is beyond my control”), paying for their care (e.g., “Do you pay for the care of your cat?” “Paying for the care of my cat is consistent with my religious beliefs”), and cat containment (e.g., “How important is it to contain a cat during the day?” “I could arrange to have my cat contained if I wanted to”). Responses to questions pertaining to beliefs and attitudes were indicated on a 7-point Likert-type scale anchored by 1 = “strongly disagree” and 7 = “strongly agree.” Subjective norms, religious beliefs, and intentions were each indexed by one item for each of the responsible ownership behaviors. Subscales referring to each of the behaviors (i.e., de-sexing, paying for the care of the cat, and containment) were developed for TPB factors with more than one item: attitudes and perceived behavioral control. As can be seen in Table 1, reliability analyses for the current sample indicated good internal consistency among items in each subscale, with Cronbach’s coefficient alphas ranging from 0.82 to 0.92.

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Results Data Handling Data were obtained from 663 participants, of which most were recruited through advertisements by SPCA and CWS. Of these, respondents were removed if they did not meet inclusion criteria (i.e., < 18 years of age, n = 28; non-cat owners, n = 229), for having partially completed the survey (as indicated by the “Surveymethods” survey portal; n = 112), or for responding inconsistently (i.e., respondents who indicated that they were cat owners but that they owned zero cats; n = 11). As the CATCQS was also used to index semi-owner behaviors (results reported elsewhere), it is not surprising that it should attract a large number of non-owners. The remaining responses, however, comprised an adequate sample size and

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Table 1. Cronbach’s alpha for attitude and perceived behavioral control subscales. Subscale

Number of Items

Cronbach’s Alpha

Cronbach’s Alpha Based on Standardized Items

Attitudes toward De-sexing

4

0.88

0.89

Perceived Behavioral Control over De-sexing

8

0.78

0.82

Attitudes toward Paying for the Care of the Cat

4

0.92

0.92

Perceived Behavioral Control over Paying for the Care of the Cat

8

0.81

0.84

Attitudes toward Containment

4

0.89

0.89

Perceived Behavioral Control over Containment

8

0.87

0.88

Missing Value Analysis indicated that data for the remaining respondents comprised less than 10 percent of missing values. Data from a further nine respondents were deleted due to outliers that exceeded z = ± 3.29 in subscale scores. The final sample comprised 274 respondents. Mediated Hierarchical Forward Stepwise Binary Logistic Regression was conducted to identify which, if any, TPB variables predicted intentions to perform the following cat owner behaviors: de-sexing, paying for the care of their cats, and containment after controlling for demographic variables (gender, educational qualifications, employment status, ethnicity, religion, and accommodation). TPB predictor variables consisted of attitudes toward the behavior, religious beliefs, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms in relation to each of the three responsible ownership practices. The criterion variable was the self-reported actual engagement in each of the responsible ownership practices (yes/no).

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The ethnicity of the sample was predominantly Chinese (66.8%), followed by Malays (18.6%), Indians (4.4%), Eurasian (3.3%), Caucasian: (3.6%), and others (3.3%). Compared with national statistics (Chinese: 74.1%; Malays: 13.4%; Indians; 9.2%), Malays were slightly overrepresented in this sample, while Chinese and Indians were slightly underrepresented (Singapore Department of Statistics 2010). With regard to religion, most participants practiced either Christianity (28.5%) or Islam (21.2%). Respondents were generally welleducated, with the majority having technical or tertiary educational qualifications (89.1%) as compared with the national average of 44% (Singapore Department of Statistics 2010). With regard to employment status, most respondents (71.9%) were employment on a full-time basis, 16.8% were employed on a part-time basis, and 11.3% were unemployed. Unemployed residents were overrepresented in this sample in comparison with the national statistic of 5.9% of unemployed residents (Singapore Department of Statistics 2010). Participants’ living arrangements were predominantly in Housing Development Board (HDB) households (69.3%), which is comparable to the 76.7% of Singapore residents living in HDB flats in 2009 (Singapore Department of Statistics 2010). Most respondents owned fewer than five cats (85.4%).

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Demographics

Attitudes toward Responsible Pet Ownership Behaviors in Singaporean Cat Owners

Table 2. Frequency counts (n) and percentage (%) of demographic variables of cat owners. Variable

n

%

44 230

16.1 83.9

Educational Qualifications No formal qualification Primary Secondary Technical/Tertiary

1 2 27 244

4.0 7.0 9.9 89.1

Employment Status

Employed full-time Employed part-time/casual Unemployed

197 46 31

71.9 16.8 11.3

Ethnicity

Chinese Malay Indian Eurasian Caucasian Other

183 51 12 9 10 9

66.8 18.6 4.4 3.3 3.6 3.3

Religion

Buddhism Taoism/Chinese traditional beliefs Islam Christianity Hinduism Free-thinker (New Age) Other religion No religion

43 11 58 78 0 34 1 49

15.7 4.0 21.2 28.5 0.0 12.4 0.4 17.9

Accommodation

HDB 3-room or smaller flat HDB 4-room or larger flat Private condominium or private flat Private landed property Farm Employer provided accommodation Other

39 151 51 31 0 0 2

14.2 55.1 18.6 11.3 0.0 0.0 0.7

Gender

Male Female

Prevalence of Engagement in Responsible Ownership Practices All but one respondent had engaged in at least one responsible ownership practice. A large proportion of respondents had also engaged in the specific behaviors of interest here; de-sexing (86.1%), paying for the care (88.7%), and containment (78.5%).

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Ethnicity, Religious Beliefs and Cat Ownership Practices The majority of respondents in each ethnic and religious category indicated that they had desexed, paid for the care of, and contained, their cat. Insufficient cell counts precluded statistical analyses, however, it appears that differences amongst ethnic groups and amongst religious groups were small. The extent to which respondents believed that de-sexing, paying for the care of the cat, and containment were practices consistent with their religious beliefs was examined as a function of ethnicity and religion. Items were indexed on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree). With the exception of ethnicity and containment, Table 3 reveals a tendency toward neutrality in each ethnic and religious category in relation to cat ownership practices, such that mean responses tended to cluster around the mid-point of the scale, indicating that respondents neither agreed nor disagreed. One-way ANOVA revealed

Gunaseelan et al.

Figure 2. Percentage of respondents who engaged in responsible ownership behaviors. Table 3. Means and standard deviations for beliefs about cat ownership practices by ethnicity and religion. Demographic Factor

Ethnicity Chinese Malay Indian Eurasian Caucasian Other Religion

Buddhism Taoism/Chinese traditional beliefs Islam Christian Free-thinker (New Age) No religion

De-sex

Pay for the Care

Containment

n

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

176–181 49–50 11–12 8–9 9 9

3.95 4.02 3.27 4.00 4.00 4.56

1.42 1.79 1.27 1.60 0.00 1.88

4.12 4.50 3.45 4.22 4.00 5.13

1.51 1.49 1.21 0.67 0.00 1.55

4.68 5.51 4.33 5.56 5.11 5.22

1.66 1.71 2.02 1.51 1.45 2.11

40–42

4.05

1.41

4.95

1.63

4.43

1.38

10–11 56–57 76–78

4.55 4.07 3.81

1.21 1.85 1.47

5.20 5.46 4.79

1.55 1.78 1.72

4.45 4.51 4.00

1.29 1.57 1.44

32–34 47–48

4.00 3.83

1.48 1.11

4.41 4.52

1.83 1.52

3.91 4.06

1.61 1.33

a significant effect for ethnicity (F(5, 259) = 2.51, p < 0.05) and religion (F(5, 259) = 2.39, p < 0.05) in relation to paying for the care of the cat; however, post-hoc pairwise comparisons did not identify any significant group differences.

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Logistic Regression: De-sexing: Generally, participants were more likely to have de-sexed the cat they currently owned (94.1%) as compared with cats that they had previously owned (84.6%). Step 2 of the logistic regression indicated that TBP variables were significantly related to current de-sexing behaviors (!2 = 22.07, df = 2, p < 0.001). Classification accuracy was optimized when the cut point was set at 0.65; an ROC Curve revealed a sensitivity of 0.98 and specificity of 0.94 at this cut point. The model correctly classified 98% of compliant cases (n = 247) and 6.3% of the non-compliant cases (n = 16). As shown in Table 4, attitudes (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.75) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) (OR = 0.49) each made a unique

Anthrozoös

Predicting Responsible Cat Ownership Behaviors

Attitudes toward Responsible Pet Ownership Behaviors in Singaporean Cat Owners

Table 4. Sequential logistic regression of de-sexing as a function of demographic and Theory of Planned Behavior variables. Variables

Attitudes PBC Constant

B

Wald

SE

0.56 –0.71 1.14

0.28 0.33 2.09

4.10 4.76 0.30

df

p

1 1 1

0.04 0.03 0.59

OR

1.75 0.49 3.11

95% CI Lower

Upper

1.02 0.26

3.02 0.93

Only significant variables are presented in the table. PBC = Perceived behavioral control.

Table 5. Sequential logistic regression of paying for the care of a cat as a function of demographic and Theory of Planned Behavior variables. Variables

Unemployment PBC Constant

B

–1.44 –0.88 5.56

SE

0.70 0.30 0.95

Wald

4.20 8.58 34.21

df

p

1 1 1

0.0400 0.0100 0.0001

OR

0.24 0.41 260.17

95% CI Lower

Upper

0.06 0.23

0.94 0.75

Only significant variables are presented in the table. PBC = Perceived behavioral control.

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contribution to the final model, with attitudes identified as the strongest predictor of engagement in de-sexing behaviors. These findings show that favorable attitudes toward de-sexing behaviors and increased perceived control over de-sexing behaviors were associated with an increased likelihood of engagement in de-sexing practices. Sobel Tests revealed that intentions did not mediate the relationship between attitudes and de-sexing behavior (p > 0.05) or PBC and de-sexing behavior (p > 0.05). Logistic Regression: Paying for the Care of the Cat: Most of the respondents (94.5%) indicated that they paid for the care of their cats. While most paid for their cat’s veterinary care (91.6%) and food (93.4%), relatively fewer participants paid for arrangements to be made for the care of their cats in their absence (77.4%). Only a minority of participants (30.3%) reported that their financial responsibilities comprised micro-chipping their cats. The full model containing TPB variables was statistically significant (!2 = 14.74, df = 3, p < 0.01). Classification accuracy was optimized when the cut point was set at 0.65; ROC analysis revealed a sensitivity of 1.00 and specificity of 0.87 at this cut point. Classification accuracy for the full model was 100% for compliant (n = 249) and 14.3% for non-compliant cases (n = 14). As shown in Table 5, in comparison with being employed on a full-time basis, unemployment predicted a failure to engage in payment behaviors for the care of a cat (OR = 0.24). In addition, perceived behavioral control (PBC) was the strongest significant predictor of payment behavior (OR = 0.41), indicating that owners with less PBC were less likely to pay for the care of their cats. Sobel Tests revealed that intentions did not mediate the relationship between PBC and paying behavior (p > 0.05). Containment: Most respondents reported containing their cats every day (87.5%) and night (91.6%) of each week, indicating that this sample was generally compliant. When respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they considered containment important, only a minority of the sample felt that it was not important to contain cats during the day (9.2%) and

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Table 6. Sequential logistic regression of cat containment in the day as a function of demographic and Theory of Planned Behavior variables. Variables

Female Subjective Norms Constant

B

2.95 0.66 –0.75

SE

1.02 0.30 2.70

Wald

df

8.36 4.84 0.08

p

1 1 1

0.0001 0.0300 0.7800

OR

19.02 1.93 0.47

95% CI Lower

Upper

2.58 1.07

140.13 3.46

Only significant variables are presented in the table.

Table 7. Sequential logistic regression of cat containment at night as a function of demographic and Theory of Planned Behavior variables. Variables

B

SE

Wald

df

p

OR

95% CI

0.0001 0.0200 0.0200 0.0200

9292.42 19.49 10.15 0.00

32.20 2681960.51 1.67 227.57 1.56 65.93

Lower Female 9.14 Attitudes 2.97 Subjective Norms 2.32 Constant –17.98

2.89 1.25 0.96 7.70

10.00 5.61 5.89 5.45

1 1 1 1

Upper

Only significant variables are presented in the table.

at night (7.4%). A large proportion of participants felt that cats should be contained to protect them from injury (93.4%), protect them from cruelty by humans (90.9%), and to prevent them from being a nuisance to neighbors (73.0%). Only a small proportion of cat owners thought containment was important to protect native wildlife (35.8%).

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Logistic Regression: Night Containment: The addition of TPB variables significantly improved the model (!2 = 62.17, df = 9, p < 0.001).The cut point was set at 0.35 on the basis of ROC analysis (sensitivity of 0.99 and specificity of 0.40). On this basis, 99.6% of compliant cases (n = 249) and 50% of non-compliant cases (n = 10) were correctly classified. As shown in Table 7, gender, attitudes, and subjective norms each made a unique, statistically significant contribution in the final model. The strongest predictor of night containment practices was being female (OR = 9292.42). Both positive attitudes and endorsement of the behavior by significant others were associated with a more than ten-fold increase in the likelihood of engagement in night containment practices. The relationship between attitudes and containment behavior (" = 1.048, p < 0.001) was not mediated by intentions. In contrast, the

Anthrozoös

Logistic Regression: Day Containment: The addition of TPB variables significantly improved the model (!2 = 50.71, df = 10, p < 0.001). On the basis of ROC analysis, the cut point was set at 0.45, for which the sensitivity was 0.98 and specificity was 0.67. Classification accuracy of compliant cases (n = 244) was 98.8% and classification accuracy of non-compliant cases (n = 14) was 35.7%. As shown in Table 6, being female and subjective norms each made a unique contribution to the final model, such that endorsement of the behavior by significant others was associated with an increased likelihood of engagement in day containment practices. The strongest predictor of day containment practices was being female (OR = 19.02).The relationship between subjective norms and containment behavior (" = 0.709, p < 0.001) was reduced after controlling for intentions (" = 0.524, p < 0.01). Sobel Tests confirmed the partial mediation of subjective norms on containment behavior by intentions (p < 0.05).

Attitudes toward Responsible Pet Ownership Behaviors in Singaporean Cat Owners

relationship between subjective norms and containment behavior (" = 0.711, p < 0.001) was reduced after controlling for intentions (" = 0.517, p < 0.05). Sobel Tests confirmed the partial mediation of subjective norms on containment behavior by intentions (p < 0.05).

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Discussion The general aim of this study was to identify demographic and psychosocial factors that predict responsible ownership behaviors in Singaporean cat owners. As has been documented in research emerging from Western countries (Toukhsati, Bennett and Coleman 2007; Rohlf et al. 2010a, 2010b), the findings reported here indicated that most respondents had engaged in de-sexing, paying for the care of, and containing, their cats. Moreover, in keeping with past research conducted in Western countries (Selby et al. 1979; Manning and Rowan 1992; McKay, Farnsworth and Waran 2009; Cocia and Rusu 2010), Singaporean female owners were most likely to engage in cat containment practices. Not surprisingly, unemployed owners were less likely to pay for the care of their cats in comparison with owners who were employed on a full-time basis; these findings may support the utility of low-cost sterilization programs. No other demographic factors emerged as determinates of cat-care practices, with little influence observed in terms of ethnic or religious background. Nonetheless, when data pertaining to beliefs about religious endorsement of these cat-care practices were examined as a function of ethnic and religious category, they tended to cluster around the mid-point of the scale, suggesting that respondents were uncertain. Perhaps this uncertainty reflects the debate regarding the justification or otherwise of certain ownership practices, such as de-sexing, within many of the predominant religions. For example, according to Islamic teachings, de-sexing may be discouraged as going against a natural process created by Allah or justified if it promotes the general good by limiting harm that may come to unwanted offspring (Abdul-Rahman 2004). Since most respondents engaged in responsible ownership practices such as de-sexing, uncertainty regarding these issues appears not to have influenced the behavior of owners per se. Nonetheless, future research is needed to interrogate these issues further in compliant and non-compliant owners. Some interesting findings emerged in relation to the purpose of cat containment. That is, while the belief that containment is important to protect cats from injury aligns with past research (Toukhsati et al. 2012b), unlike cat owners and non-owners from Victoria, Australia, Singaporean cat owners did not place a high premium on the protection of native wildlife. This finding is, nonetheless, consistent with those of Grayson, Calver and Styles (2002) which revealed much less support for containment for the purpose of protecting wildlife in owners (48%) in comparison with non-owners (87%) residing in Western Australia. To explore this issue further, we examined data derived from the entire sample of Singaporean owners and non-owners (previously excluded from the substantive analyses on the basis of not having met the inclusion criteria). Preliminary findings suggest that less than 30% of owner and non-owner groups considered containment important for the purpose of protecting native wildlife. Given the potential impact that free-roaming cats are reported to have on native wildlife populations elsewhere (DSE 1999), education regarding this issue would appear justified in Singapore.

The Theory of Planned Behavior The results demonstrate the role of attitudes in predicting companion animal behaviors, which is broadly consistent with Toukhsati, Bennett and Coleman’s (2007) suggestion that positive attitudes may be associated with an increased likelihood of engagement in responsible cat

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ownership behaviors. Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) emerged as significant behavioral predictors, although some psychosocial factors related more strongly to some behaviors than to others. For instance, PBC was linked to de-sexing and paying for the care of the cat, whereas subjective norms (i.e., the belief that significant others would approve of containment practices) emerged as a significant predictor of containment practices. Generally, however, the findings do provide general support for the utility of the TPB to predict behaviors on the basis of psychosocial characteristics, which is consistent with past research that has drawn on the TPB to explain attitudes and behaviors in committed companion animal owners (e.g., Rohlf et al. 2010a, 2010b). Accordingly, targeted interventions that address key attitudes and beliefs that emerged here may improve the efficacy of responsible pet ownership campaigns and programs. That is, the data presented here suggest that there may be value in addressing owner attitudes, emphasizing normative beliefs (e.g., through the use of role models; Rohlf et al. 2010b), and providing methods of overcoming perceived obstacles in programs designed to facilitate responsible ownership practices. It is worthwhile noting that the relationship between subjective norms and containment behaviors were found to be partially mediated by intentions. This is consistent with Ajzen’s (2005) TBP model, which suggests that psychosocial factors influence intentions to perform a given behavior which, in turn, predict behavior. The relatively blunt single-item measure of intentions in this study may explain the lack of mediation observed in relation to other responsible ownership behaviors; further exploration of this factor is justified for future research of this nature.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research A limitation of the current study was that it utilized a self-selected sample and so the results largely represent the views of responsible cat owners. There were disproportionately more tertiary-educated, female respondents, perhaps in part arising from the use of an internet-based survey. It is also possible that compliant owners were more willing to complete the questionnaire while non-compliant owners avoided attempting or completing the questionnaire. Posthoc examination of the full dataset of cat owners (including those previously removed from the substantive analyses due to missing data) did not, however, support this idea since no significant differences between partial and complete responders emerged in relation to the frequency with which they engaged in de-sexing, paying, or containment behaviors. Nonetheless, the low number of non-compliant owners to complete the survey resulted in poor classification accuracy in the logistic regression analyses, according to which, little is known about the attitudes of non-compliant cat owners. To overcome some of these limitations, random face-to-face or telephone interviews would be a worthwhile strategy for future research.

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One method of reducing the number of unwanted or unclaimed cats being euthanized is by inculcating responsible ownership practices in owners and the general public. These practices include de-sexing the pet to prevent unnecessary breeding, paying for the care of the pet to ensure that it is in optimal health, and containing the pet for its safety and to ensure that it is not a nuisance to the public. Overall, the findings from this study demonstrate that each of the responsible cat ownership behaviors in this study was predicted by at least one TPB construct. The most frequent predictor was perceived behavioral control, indicating the importance of increasing owners’ perceptions of their self-efficacy, as well as making responsible ownership practices easy for owners to engage in.

Anthrozoös

Summary

Attitudes toward Responsible Pet Ownership Behaviors in Singaporean Cat Owners

Generally, the results from this study show that there exist minimal cultural differences between Singapore and Western countries such as Australia in relation to responsible animal ownership practices. Moreover, no differences in ownership practices amongst compliant Singaporean cat owners emerged as a function of ethnic or religious background; further research of this nature is needed to examine behavioral predictors in non-compliant owners. Future research could also utilize the TPB to investigate the effectiveness of current intervention programs and campaigns that purport to promote responsible cat ownership. The exploration of possible moderators and/or mediators (e.g., level of attachment to the cat and/or perceived benefits derived from owning a cat) may also yield insights to further improve the efficacy of programs promoting responsible cat ownership.

Acknowledgements We extend our grateful thanks to Mr Michael Wong, Mr Jaipal Gill from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Singapore, and Ms Veron Lau from the Cat Welfare Society (CWS) in Singapore for their assistance.

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