Archetyping relationships with companion animals to understand disaster risk-taking propensity

Pets factor into the daily decision-making of many people. Importantly, various characteristics of these human–animal relationships are known to strongly influence pet owners’ risk behaviour and, consequently, their animals’ welfare during disasters. Yet, few studies have examined a range of such characteristics concurrently in order to describe risk propensity differences in these relationships. In this study, 437 Australian companion-animal (pet) owners reported human–animal relational, personality and attitudinal characteristics, to examine differences in stated tendency to act to secure their pet’s welfare whilst risking potential harm in a hypothetical disaster dilemma. Cluster analysis identified five archetypal profiles differing in relational, personality, attitude and risk-propensity characteristics, as well as in stated willingness to risk personal safety for the well-being of a pet. Results suggest that relational archetypes are an effective means of examining pet–owner risk propensity, to better understand owners’ risk-taking to protect their animals from harm during a disaster.     

Traveling with pets: Constraints,negotiation, and learned helplessness

Pets have become increasingly important companions for modern families in daily life and during vacations. Yet traveling with pets involves various uncertainties and constraints that can inhibit tourists' participation. Drawing upon the constraint-negotiation model, this two-step, mixed-methods study examines how these constraints may influence pet owners' travel intentions and how such barriers can be overcome. A qualitative investigation was first conducted based on online user-generated content from 71 Chinese bloggers. Thematic analysis informed the development of an extended constraint-negotiation framework featuring learned helplessness. The extended model was then tested using survey data from 615 Chinese pet owners. Findings suggest that while perceived constraints can inhibit traveling with pets through increased learned helplessness, negotiation can reduce helplessness and encourage pet owners’ tourism participation. Implications and limitations are also discussed.     

Extending Holt's consuming typology to encompass subject–subject relations in consumption: lessons from pet ownership

This paper adapts Holt's typology of consumption practices to illuminate consumption practices within the context of British consumers and their household pets. The photo-elicitation technique, autodriving, is used to elicit stories from our participants concerning their cats and dogs. Holt's typology provides a strong foundation for illuminating the consumption practices described in these stories. However, in order to capture the cultural meanings and social dynamics that animate these consumption practices more fully, we propose extending Holt's framework so as to incorporate (1) the agency of the animal; (2) the incidence of literal play; and (3) the moral values underlying consuming as classification. This paper concludes with a discussion on the value of our proposed additions in relation to future cultural studies of human–animal relations and to future cultural studies of consumption in general.     

住宅小区宠物不可量物损害法律问题研究

住宅小区宠物的不可量物损害问题是影响相邻权和人身权的一个重要因素,也是宠物法律问题研究的一个基本问题。本文以民事法律规范的视角探讨宠物饲养人的登记、防疫、遵守宠物出行规则等民事义务,同时对减少住宅小区宠物不可量物损害、构建和谐小区提出几点对策。