Recognizing Zooeyia to Promote Companion Animal Welfare in Urban Bangladesh


Abu-Hena Mostofa Kamal, University of Saskatchewan

The One Health concept of zooeyia refers to the benefits of companion animals in human health and is gaining global research attention (Hodgson and Darling, 2011). The One Health framework situates the health of humans, animals and the planet as intertwined. We know within sociology this is equally understood; for example, there is an established ‘link’ between human and animal abuse. Since cruelty towards companion animals is a serious global concern, there is an increased need to focus on companion animal welfare (Cardoso et al., 2017). Research shows that thousands of companion animals are abused each day, although most abuse remains undetected because it occurs in private spaces (Hrubenja, 2022). Additionally, the types of abuse against companion animals and the reasoning behind it varies across demographics and countries. Asian countries have a storied history of companion animal abuse, with much of it unreported (Laybourne,2023). There is no exact statistics available on the companion animal population in Bangladesh in particular, but it appears to have increased in the past few decades (Haroon, 2022). There is also no accurate statistics associated with companion animal abuse or welfare in Bangladesh. Therefore, this exploratory study was undertaken to understand the current status of companion animals’ welfare in Bangladesh through understanding the lived experiences and perceptions of people living with companion animal(s) in urban Bangladesh. Thirty-five qualitative interviews were conducted with companion animal owners (20), animal sellers (10), and livestock service department officers (5) from two major cities in Bangladesh, Dhaka and Khulna. We purposively selected Dhaka and Khulna—both metropolitan areas of Bangladesh—for this study given that the international literature suggests there is a high prevalence of loneliness and fragile social interactions among people living in densely populated cities, which may result in a greater desire for animal companionship (Tan, 2021; Wang, 2018). We applied a combination of snowball and purposive sampling techniques to recruit the participants. The inclusion criteria for companion animal owners were: having an animal in their care for at least one year, living in Dhaka or Khulna during the data collection period, being a Bangladeshi citizen, and being at least 18 years of age. Animal sellers included either owners or employees of a pet animal store and professional companion animal breeding farm owners. All animal seller participants had at least one year of experience selling companion animals. Livestock service department officers had to have been in their employment positions for at least one year. Semi-structured interview guidelines were used to gather information from the participants. Data analysis was guided by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase framework for thematic analysis, including familiarization, coding, generating themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and writing up. An open coding approach was applied to analyze the data, with no prior code list identified. Rather, the codes were developed based on the research focus, and as we worked through the coding process. Thematic analysis found that historically, animals had a utilitarian purpose, such as livestock for food and dogs for security. The role and perceptions of companion animals began to change for some around the turn of the century. Today, companion animal caretakers report social, psychological, and physical health benefits from integrating companion animals into their lives. They also report that companion animal ownership can contribute to social problems due to the prevailing stigma against companion animals. This is rooted in the continued utilitarian role attached to companion animals by the majority of the Bangladesh population as well as religious-based non-acceptance. As a result, the Animal Welfare Act (2019) is not well implemented, posing a key concern for companion animal welfare. To tackle this, we propose various ways, such as implementing the Animal Welfare Act, updating the Animal Welfare Act where necessary, introducing animal-assisted intervention to promote patient health, and raising awareness about animals’ rights, in which the emerging concept of zooeyia can help promote the welfare of companion animals by challenging the stigma associated with them in Bangladesh. Ultimately, this would help to improve human health as well.

Non-presenting authors: Colleen Anne Dell, University of Saskatchewan; Timothy Kang, University of Saskatchewan

This paper will be presented at the following session: