Attitudes towards Dogs and Other “Pets” in Roseau, Dominica

This paper reports on the findings of interviews on attitudes towards pet care with 241 heads of households in Roseau, the capital of The Commonwealth of Dominica. Parrots and dogs were the two most preferred animals, and snakes were least liked; however, few respondents (0.8%) kept parrots as pets. Dogs were kept in 39% of households and cats in 28%. Over 90% of respondents thought that Roseau had a “roaming dog problem,” and 71% reported roaming dogs, amongst other roaming animals, in their neighborhoods. Almost a third of cats and dogs were untrained and almost 58% of dog carers only took their pets to the veterinarian when they thought they were sick. It is proposed that most dog carers are “passive”—have little interaction with their dogs. Most respondents were ignorant of the laws concerning dog ownership and animal welfare. Respondents only wanted to adopt dogs with certain characteristics and most were unwilling to pay for an adopted dog. The findings from this study indicate that the community needs to be better educated in animal welfare.