Meat Consumers’ Opinion Regarding Unhealthy Pigs: Should They Be Treated with Antibiotics or Euthanized on Farm?
The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions of meat consumers (n = 1780) on on-farm management of unhealthy pigs, whether support for treatment with antibiotics varies according with chance of recovery, and the effect of knowledge on the use of antibiotics on these opinions. Most participa...
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doaj-4b8df7ce81c949f0818a2a10ed1122cb2021-01-10T00:00:32ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822021-01-0110606010.3390/antibiotics10010060Meat Consumers’ Opinion Regarding Unhealthy Pigs: Should They Be Treated with Antibiotics or Euthanized on Farm?Dayane Lemos Teixeira0Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo1Tamara Estay Espinoza2Fernando Bas3Maria José Hötzel4Instituto de Ciencias Agroalimentarias, Animales y Ambientales (ICA3), Universidad de O’Higgins, San Fernando 3070000, ChileBristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UKDepartamento de Ciencias Animales, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Casilla-306 Santiago, ChileDepartamento de Ciencias Animales, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Casilla-306 Santiago, ChileLaboratório de Etologia Aplicada e Bem-Estar Animal, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Rod. Admar Gonzaga 1346, Itacorubi, Florianópolis 88034-001, BrazilThe aim of this study was to investigate the opinions of meat consumers (n = 1780) on on-farm management of unhealthy pigs, whether support for treatment with antibiotics varies according with chance of recovery, and the effect of knowledge on the use of antibiotics on these opinions. Most participants believed that the use of antibiotics was the best solution for unhealthy pigs, and this was associated with a low level of knowledge about antibiotics. Increasing the probability of recovery after treatment increased support for treating pigs with antibiotics. However, the majority of participants rejected the consumption of meat from animals housed in “hospital pens”. After price, concern with food safety was the second main factor that influenced participants’ choice when buying meat. Support for the use of antibiotics to deal with unhealthy pigs in “hospital pens”, as well as for consumption of the meat from these animals, was higher among participants involved in agriculture. This shows that consumers are unaware of the potential negative repercussions for animal welfare associated with banning or reducing the use of antibiotics in livestock production, which is an important concern for the industry.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/10/1/60consumerperceptionantibioticopinionpigwelfare |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Dayane Lemos Teixeira Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo Tamara Estay Espinoza Fernando Bas Maria José Hötzel |
spellingShingle |
Dayane Lemos Teixeira Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo Tamara Estay Espinoza Fernando Bas Maria José Hötzel Meat Consumers’ Opinion Regarding Unhealthy Pigs: Should They Be Treated with Antibiotics or Euthanized on Farm? Antibiotics consumer perception antibiotic opinion pig welfare |
author_facet |
Dayane Lemos Teixeira Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo Tamara Estay Espinoza Fernando Bas Maria José Hötzel |
author_sort |
Dayane Lemos Teixeira |
title |
Meat Consumers’ Opinion Regarding Unhealthy Pigs: Should They Be Treated with Antibiotics or Euthanized on Farm? |
title_short |
Meat Consumers’ Opinion Regarding Unhealthy Pigs: Should They Be Treated with Antibiotics or Euthanized on Farm? |
title_full |
Meat Consumers’ Opinion Regarding Unhealthy Pigs: Should They Be Treated with Antibiotics or Euthanized on Farm? |
title_fullStr |
Meat Consumers’ Opinion Regarding Unhealthy Pigs: Should They Be Treated with Antibiotics or Euthanized on Farm? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Meat Consumers’ Opinion Regarding Unhealthy Pigs: Should They Be Treated with Antibiotics or Euthanized on Farm? |
title_sort |
meat consumers’ opinion regarding unhealthy pigs: should they be treated with antibiotics or euthanized on farm? |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Antibiotics |
issn |
2079-6382 |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions of meat consumers (n = 1780) on on-farm management of unhealthy pigs, whether support for treatment with antibiotics varies according with chance of recovery, and the effect of knowledge on the use of antibiotics on these opinions. Most participants believed that the use of antibiotics was the best solution for unhealthy pigs, and this was associated with a low level of knowledge about antibiotics. Increasing the probability of recovery after treatment increased support for treating pigs with antibiotics. However, the majority of participants rejected the consumption of meat from animals housed in “hospital pens”. After price, concern with food safety was the second main factor that influenced participants’ choice when buying meat. Support for the use of antibiotics to deal with unhealthy pigs in “hospital pens”, as well as for consumption of the meat from these animals, was higher among participants involved in agriculture. This shows that consumers are unaware of the potential negative repercussions for animal welfare associated with banning or reducing the use of antibiotics in livestock production, which is an important concern for the industry. |
topic |
consumer perception antibiotic opinion pig welfare |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/10/1/60 |
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