We feel more attached to dogs than to cats, at least in central and western Europe, according to a study carried out by a team of scientists led by Peter Sandoe, from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and published this Monday in the journal Frontiers. in Veterinary Science.
"We wanted to find out if cats could end up having the same status as dogs today," the researchers explain. In their work, they found, "that people are willing to spend much less on their cats than on their dogs."
The scientists hired a survey company to gather representative samples of adult pet owners from three Western and Central European countries, which are similar in many ways, although urbanized at different times in history: first the United Kingdom, then Austria, and finally Denmark. .
For their research, they hypothesized that a longer history with rural animals among the general population is a cultural factor that could affect social attitudes toward pets today. The final sample of pet owners was made up of 2,117 people who owned dogs or cats: 844 owned dogs, 872 owned kittens, and 401 owned both.
Respondents were asked to answer questions aimed at understanding a variety of different dimensions of care. These questions included the Lexington Scale, which aims to understand owners' emotional attachment to their pets, as well as questions about how much they invest in veterinary care and their expectations about the care available.
The scientists found that people seemed to care more about their dogs than their cats in all countries and on all measures. However, in their findings they found differences in attitudes between countries. In the UK, there was a greater (albeit slight) preference for dogs. In Austria and Denmark it was more marked.
“It doesn't seem to be a universal phenomenon that people care much less about their cats than they do about their dogs. Instead, we suggest that the difference probably depends on cultural factors, including whether the animals spend a lot of time with their owners at home,” add those responsible for the study.
According to the study's authors, this may be due to a more agricultural recent past, where most animals are kept at a greater distance and dogs work much more closely with humans than cats. However, other issues are related to the help that animals provide in their daily lives.
