Valley International Journal Digital Library

VIJ Digital library
Articles

Exploring Consumers’ Perception of Farm Animal Welfare in Muar, Johor

PDF
  • Nalini Arumugam,
  • Ain Shafirah Mohd Halim,
  • Anath Rau Krishnan
Nalini Arumugam
faculty Bioresources & Food Industry Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin
Bio
Ain Shafirah Mohd Halim
faculty Bioresources & Food Industry Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin
Anath Rau Krishnan
fakulti Kewangan Antarabangsa Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Published in : International Journal of Scientific Research and Management (IJSRM) , Vol. 12 No. 02 (2024)

Submission to VIJ 2024-02-27

Keywords

  • Farm Animal Welfare, Consumer, Perceptions, Attitude, Knowledge

Copyright (c) 2024 Nalini Arumugam, Ain Shafirah Mohd Halim, Anath Rau Krishnan

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The concept of animal welfare has been in existence since the early 1950s, and the Animal Welfare Act of Malaysia was officially established in 2015. Farm animal welfare (FAW) pertains to the imperative for farmers to establish habitats that enable animals to manifest their innate behaviors. Consumer perception encompasses the way individuals perceive various aspects of animal welfare, including variations in perception among species and nations, the impact of animal-friendly branding, and the extent to which consumers are ready to pay more for food produced from animals maintained under improved welfare conditions. In Malaysia, customers exhibit limited concern for farm animal welfare and possess insufficient awareness regarding the treatment of animals bred for food. The objective of this study was to establish the correlation between customers' impressions of farm animal welfare and their attitudes, knowledge, preferences for welfare-friendly products, and socio-demographic factors. This study categorized attitude, knowledge, welfare-friendly items, and socio-demographic parameters as independent variables, while customers' perception was considered the dependent variable. This study employed a simple random sampling method, selecting 100 participants in Muar, Johor. Data was gathered by distributing a survey questionnaire to consumers in Muar, Johor. The data is analyzed using SPSS, which provides outputs for descriptive and regression analyses. The results indicated that consumers' evaluations of farm animal care were highly influenced by their attitudes and level of knowledge. The findings indicated that residents in Muar, Johor lack awareness and knowledge concerning the well-being of livestock. Hence, it was imperative for consumers and students to grasp the concept of farm animal welfare in order to understand the manner in which animals were handled for the purpose of food production.

PDF

References

  1. Alonso, M., González-Montaña, J., & Pérez, J. (2020). Consumers’ concerns and perceptions of farm animal welfare. Animals, 10(3), 385. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10030385
  2. Boaitey, A., Eden, M., & Jette-Nantel, S. (2020). Too close to eat? Solidarity with animals, animal welfare and meat consumption.. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.30.926592
  3. Bracke, M., Greef, K., & Hopster, H. (2005). Qualitative stakeholder analysis for the development of sustainable monitoring systems for farm animal welfare. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 18(1), 27-56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-004-3085-2
  4. Carnovale, F., Xiao, J., Arney, D., Descovich, K., Guo, W., Shi, B., … & Phillips, C. (2021). Chinese public attitudes towards, and knowledge of, animal welfare. Animals, 11(3), 855. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030855
  5. Comin, V., Karsburg, H., Souza, B., Almeida, H., Neira, L., & Rossi, G. (2022). Perception of animal welfare and its certification system by Brazilian consumers and dairy farmers. Journal of Dairy Research, 89(1), 53-56. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022029922000024
  6. Cornish, A., Jamieson, J., Raubenheimer, D., & McGreevy, P. (2019). Applying the behavioural change wheel to encourage higher welfare food choices. Animals, 9(8), 524. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080524
  7. Fleming, P., Wickham, S., Barnes, A., Miller, D., & Collins, T. (2020). Varying opinions about animal welfare in the Australian live export industry: a survey. Animals, 10(10), 1864. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101864
  8. Hubbard, C., Bourlakis, M., & Garrod, G. (2007). Pig in the middle: farmers and the delivery of farm animal welfare standards. British Food Journal, 109(11), 919-930. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700710835723
  9. Hughes, D. (1995). Animal welfare. British Food Journal, 97(10), 3-7. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070709510104529
  10. Jalil, N., Tawde, A., Zito, S., Sinclair, M., Fryer, C., Zulkifli, I & Phillips, C. (2018). Attitudes of the public towards halal food and associated animal welfare issues in two countries with predominantly muslim and non-muslim populations. Plos One, 13(10), e0204094. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204094
  11. Jiang, B., Tang, W., Cui, L., & Wei, Y. (2023). Factors influencing chinese public attitudes toward farm animal welfare. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1049530
  12. Kiliç, İ. and Bozkurt, Z. (2020). Assessment of Turkish consumer attitudes using an animal welfare attitude scale (awas). Veterinaria México Oa, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.22201/fmvz.24486760e.2020.1.663
  13. Kjærnes, U., Borgen, S., & Thorjussen, C. (2022). Behind a fluttering veil of trust: the dynamics of public concerns over farm animal welfare in Norway. Sociologia Ruralis, 62(4), 763-781. https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12405
  14. Kling-Eveillard, F., Dockès, A., & Souquet, C. (2007). Attitudes of French pig farmers towards animal welfare. British Food Journal, 109(11), 859-869. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700710835679
  15. Munir, S., Mokhtar, M., & Arham, A. (2023). Public perspectives on strays and companion animal management in Malaysia.. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2707849/v1
  16. Pejman, N., Kallas, Z., Dalmau, A., & Velarde, A. (2019). Should animal welfare regulations be more restrictive? a case study in eight European union countries. Animals, 9(4), 195. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9040195
  17. Rubini, G., Nannoni, E., Pasquale, J., Martelli, G., & Sardi, L. (2021). Update on animal welfare perception by italian consumers: a descriptive survey. Italian Journal of Food Safety, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/ijfs.2021.9588
  18. Schukat, S., Plettenberg, L., & Heise, H. (2020). Animal welfare programs in Germany—an empirical study on the attitudes of pig farmers. Agriculture, 10(12), 609. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10120609
  19. Sinclair, M. and Phillips, C. (2019). Asian livestock industry leaders’ perceptions of the importance of, and solutions for, animal welfare issues. Animals, 9(6), 319. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9060319
  20. Sinclair, M., Zulkifli, I., Nhiem, D., Katawatin, S., Todd, B., Burn, G., … & Phillips, C. (2019). Motivations for industry stakeholders in china, vietnam, thailand and malaysia to improve livestock welfare. Animals, 9(7), 416. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9070416
  21. Tomašević, I., Bahelka, I., Čítek, J., Čandek-Potokar, M., Đjekić, I., Getya, A., … & Font-i-Furnols, M. (2020). Attitudes and beliefs of eastern european consumers towards animal welfare. Animals, 10(7), 1220. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10071220
  22. Trimania, I., Kusnadi, N., & Putri, T. (2022). Consumer willingness to pay for premium price of eggs animal welfare in Mojokerto, east java. IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science, 1107(1), 012080. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1107/1/012080
  23. Vanhonacker, F., Verbeke, W., Poucke, E., Pieniak, Z., Nijs, G., & Tuyttens, F. (2010). The concept of farm animal welfare: citizen perceptions and stakeholder opinion in Flanders, Belgium. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 25(1), 79-101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-010-9299-6
  24. You, X., Yi-bo, L., Zhang, M., Huo-qi, Y., & Zhao, R. (2014). A survey of chinese citizens’ perceptions on farm animal welfare. Plos One, 9(10), e109177. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109177
  25. Zolkipli@Zulkifli, A. (2022). The influence of animal welfare act 2015 enforcement on the rise of animal cruelty cases in Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (Mjssh), 7(12), e001955. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v7i12.1955