BEHAVIORAL, HOUSEHOLD, AND SOCIAL-PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH COMPANION ANIMALS - OPINIONS OF OWNERS AND NON-OWNERS

The goal of this investigation was to determine the extent to which ow ners of companion animals experienced problems with their animals, suc h as behaviour problems, and to discover their opinion about household problems such as the shedding of hairs and/or feathers. Furthermore, an attempt was made to discover the opinions of owners and non-owners about social problems such as 'companion animals make noise'. The find ings are the result of a survey among 871 Dutch respondents. It was fo und that 43% of all companion animal owners had one or more problems w ith their animals. Dog and cat owners experienced many problems with t he illness and the behaviour of their animals. The higher the income o f the owner, the more likely he/she is to have problems with his/her a nimal's behaviour. Because animals with behaviour problems are a risk group, more should be done to prevent these problems. Owners of compan ion animals found shedding of hair or feathers the biggest disadvantag e of keeping an animal. People in paid employment found cleaning the c age of the animal a bigger nuisance than did people not in paid employ ment. There were no differences in owner characteristics with regard t o the household problems. The opinions of owners of certain species of animals, owners of other species, and non-owners about behavioural tr aits and the nuisance caused by that species of companion animal diffe red, which could lead to misunderstandings between these groups.