Owners, guardians, and owner-guardians: Differing relationships with pets

A national study was conducted in the US examining pet caregivers who define themselves as either “owners,” “guardians” or “owner-guardians.” The purpose was to determine whether these groups differed in their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors with regard to companion animals. Random samplings of US households and clients of randomly selected veterinarians and animal clinics were surveyed about their attitudes and beliefs about their pets, their treatment of their pets, and about companion animals in general. The results suggest statistically significant differences between these groups with regard to the way they think about, and behave toward, their companion animals. It is unknown whether these differences result from the changes in mental constructs and language resulting from the Guardian Campaign, or whether they represent preexisting differences in attitudes.