Information Need of Owners regarding Dog’s Healthcare, Zoonotic Diseases and Marketing

Adarsha Doddabasappala Basarajappa¹, Rupasi Tiwari², Rakesh Roy³, Davinder Singh⁴, Vishwaradhya Tharehally Matt^4*, Devan Arora⁴

*Corresponding author: vishwareal375@gmail.com

ARTICLE CITATION: Basarajappa AD, Tiwari R, Roy R, Singh D, Matt WT, Arora D (2014). Information need of owners regarding dog’s healthcare, zoonotic diseases and marketing. Adv. Anim. Vet. Sci. 2 (3): 148 – 149.
Received: 2013–10–30, Revised: 2013–12–21, Accepted: 2013–12–22
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at (http://dx.doi.org/10.14737/journal.aavs/2014/2.3.148.149) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

ABSTRACT

The present study was purposively conducted at Clinical Complex, VeterinaryCollege, Hebbal, Bangalore; Referral Polyclinic, IVRI, Izatnagar; Veterinary polyclinic, GBPUAT, Pantnagar and Veterinary hospital, Palam, New Delhi, India. From each clinical complex, 50 pet dog owners were selected randomly and thus having a total of 200 respondents for the study. The study showed that majority of the respondents need information regarding vaccination of the dogs followed by deworming, ectoparasitic spray, common diseases affecting dogs, common diseases affecting pups and health problems of pregnant dogs. Regarding zoonotic diseases of dog, it was observed that majority of the respondents need information regarding leptospirosis followed by rabies, tuberculosis, zoonotic parasitic diseases and zoonotic mycotic diseases. The study also depicted that majority of the respondents need information regarding price of various dog breeds followed by place of procurement and sale of pups and adult dogs, type and place for purchase of accessories for dog. It was concluded that major information need of dog owners included information regarding vaccination schedule followed by leptospirosis, deworming and rabies.

Presently, India’s dog population is 19.087 million. Out of them, 16.512 million and 2.574 million are present in rural and urban areas, respectively. Among all states in India, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, respectively stands first, second and third, respectively. In India about 17% of the households own a pet dog (Sudarshan et al., 2006). Irwin and Traub (2006) revealed that changing attitudes towards companion animal ownership, has increased the expectations and demands being placed on veterinary surgeons and the companion animal industry for improved knowledge of veterinary diseases and products for treatment and control. It has led to higher expectations and demands for greater and timely information on key issues of health and management aspects of companion animals, which prompted the authors to undertake the present study.
Based on nature of research problem, ex–post facto research design was followed in the present study. A total of 200 respondents were purposively selected from Clinical Complex, Veterinary College, Hebbal, Bangalore; Referral Polyclinic, IVRI, Izatnagar; Veterinary polyclinic, GBPUAT, Pantnagar and Veterinary hospital, Palam, New Delhi by looking into the number and variety of cases presented duringthe last one year. A random sampling procedure was followed to select 50 pet dog owners from each clinical complex so as to make final sample size of 200 for assessment of knowledge level of dog owners about scientific dog rearing practices, prioritization of their information need and documentation of the dog rearing practices followed by dog owners. Frequency distribution and percentage analysis was followed for analysis of the data.
The study showed that majority (78%) of the respondents of Bareilly needed information regarding vaccination of the dogs followed by deworming (72%), ectoparasitic spray (68%), common diseases affecting pups (64%), common diseases affecting dogs (62%)and health problems of pregnant dogs(38%). In Bangalore, majority (82%) of the respondents needed information regarding vaccination of the dogs followed by ectoparasitic spray (68%), deworming (72%), common diseases affecting dogs (42%), common diseases affecting pups (34%) and health problems of pregnant dogs (14%). Similarly in U.S. Nagar, cent percent of the respondents needed information regarding vaccination of the dogs followed by common diseases affecting dogs (76%), deworming (70%), ectoparasitic spray (56%), common diseases affecting pups (52%) and health problems of pregnant dogs (32%). In New Delhi, majority (76%) of the respondents needed information regarding deworming of the dogs followed by vaccination (74%), ectoparasitic spray (72%), common diseases affecting pups (48%), common diseases affecting dogs (40%) and health problems of pregnant dogs(26%). High percentage of the respondents U.S. Nagar (100%), Bangalore (82%) and Bareilly (78%) needed information regarding vaccination of the dog but in New Delhi high percentage of the respondents needed information regarding deworming of the dogs. In case of pooled sample also majority (83.5%) of the respondents of needed information regarding vaccination of the dogs followed by deworming(72.5%), ectoparasitic spray (69%), common diseases affecting dogs (55%), common diseases affecting pups (49.5%) and health problems of pregnant dogs(43%). (Alba and Hutchinson 1987) reported that dog owners must have enough information to be able to make reasonable decisions concerning health related issues. (Rani et al., 2010) revealed that information concerning the epidemiology, diagnosis and management of canine vector–borne diseases in India was limited. It is evident from the study that majority (78%) of the respondents of Bareilly needed information regarding Rabies followed by Leptospirosis (72%), Tuberculosis (66%), zoonotic parasitic diseases (58%) and zoonotic mycotic diseases (28%). But in Bangalore, majority (82%) of the respondents needed information regarding Leptospirosis followed by Rabies (80%), Tuberculosis (32%), zoonotic mycotic diseases (26%) and zoonotic parasitic diseases (22%). In U.S. Nagar, majority (92%) of the respondents needed information regarding zoonotic parasitic diseases followed by zoonotic mycotic diseases (80%), Tuberculosis (32%), Rabies (26%) and Leptospirosis (22%). In New Delhi, majority (76%) of the respondents needed information regarding Leptospirosis, Tuberculosis and zoonotic parasitic diseases followed by Rabies (72%) and zoonotic mycotic diseases (32%). In pooled sample it can be observed that majority (73.5%) of the respondent need information regarding Leptospirosis followed by Rabies (71.5%), Tuberculosis (62%), zoonotic parasitic diseases (62%) and zoonotic mycotic diseases (41.5%). Katagiri and Oliveira–Sequeira et al. (2008) revealed that majority of the dog owners does not know the species of dog intestinal parasites, the mechanisms of transmission, the risk factors for zoonotic infections, and specific prophylactic measures. If the mentioned zoonotic diseases of pet animals areconsidered, the need for the awareness of the proper management of the pet dogs and their health care ispivotal (Sudarshan et al. 2006).
Majority (66%) of the respondents of Bareilly needed information regarding type and place for purchase of accessories followed by price of various dog breeds(54%), price of pet foods(50%), place of procurement and sale of pups(48%), place of availability of pet foods(44%), place of procurement and sale of adult dogs(42%). In Bangalore, about 24 percent of the respondents needed information regarding price of various dog breeds followed by price of pet foods (18%), place of availability of pet foods (6%), place of procurement and sale of pups (6%), but there was no need of information regarding type and place for purchase of accessories and place of procurement and sale of adult dogs to cent per cent of respondents. In U.S. Nagar, majority (68%) of the respondents needed information regarding place of procurement and sale of pups followed by place of procurement and sale of adult dogs (64%), place of availability of pet foods (52%), price of pet foods (48%), type and place for purchase of accessories(46%), price of various dog breeds(42%). Similarly in New Delhi, majority (42%) of the respondents needed information regarding place of procurement and sale of adult dogs followed by price of various dog breeds (30%), place of procurement and sale of pups (24%), type and place for purchase of accessories(22%), place of availability of pet foods (14%), price of pet foods (12%). In pooled sample, majority (37.5%) of the respondents needed information regarding price of various dog breeds followed by place of procurement and sale of adult dogs (37%), place of procurement and sale of pups (36.5%), type and place for purchase of accessories(33.5%), price of pet foods (32%) and place of availability of pet foods (30%). A study on attitudes of Finnish dog owners conducted by Leppanen et al., (2000) also revealed that dog owners who estimated their knowledge as average, wanted to obtain more information.
The study showed that majority (83.5%) of the respondents needed information regarding vaccination followed by Leptospirosis (73.5%), deworming (72.5%), rabies (71.5%), ectoparasitic spray (69%), tuberculosis (62%), zoonotic parasitic diseases (62%), nutritional requirements of diseased dogs (60%), type of breed (57%), nutritional requirements of puppies (54%) and common diseases affecting dogs (50%). From the above results it can be observed that higher percentage of the dog owners needed information regarding healthcare aspect of the dogs. The study depicted that there was an urgent need to educate people regarding healthcare aspect and zoonotic disease of dog particularly regarding vaccination schedule, leptospirosis, deworming and rabies.

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