Percepções a respeito do bem-estar animal no Brasil

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in animal welfare (AW) by public opinion, especially in developed countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia and European Union countries. Events such as urbanization, the media, the influence of organizations in society, increasing education and the economic level of the population are reasons that partly explain the growing interest of society in AW. The general objective of this study was to analyze the perception of the brazilian university population in relation to AW in the productive chains of beef and chicken. The research was based on questionnaires and the sample was collected in the brazilian university community, composed of students and professors of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in all areas of knowledge, in addition to the technical administrative staff. The data were firstly analyzed using a factorial in order to group items used to measure the perceptions of factors. Three factors were found and denominated: Farmer’s image, Life quality of farm animals and Use of animals for human consumption. Means tests were used to test differences between groups regarding socioeconomic variables and perceptions. The results showed that the greater contact with the farm animals, the greater information about the AW, most the people's perception of the AW. People with a pet, in highly urbanised áreas, those who have information and connections with agriculture and also women, care more about AW.