COMPANION ANIMAL ATTACHMENT AND MILITARY TRANSFER

Human attachment levels to companion animals were compared to whether a companion animal accompanied a military family at transfer time. Att achment levels were measured by combining preexisting subscale instrum ents to form a 21-item pet attachment scale. Data were collected throu gh a mail survey (67% response rate) of registered pet owners who were to transfer within six months from 13 military installations. Attachm ent levels to companion animals were positively associated with taking the pet upon transferring (X(2) = 11.44, p < .01). A semantic differe ntial scale was employed to measure ''perceived'' attachment levels, w hich were compared with the attachment levels from the combined subsca le instrument. These two scales had a strong association with each oth er (X(2) = 65.70, p < .001). Factor analysis of the combined subscale instrument yielded two factors, ''pet companionship'' and ''pet affect ion,'' and reliability analysis estimated Cronbach's Alpha of .95.