36/2020
2020-11-13
Changes for the Better in Animal Welfare?
The measures in the draft bill prepared by Law and Justice to update animal protection legislation are generally being met with approval by the public. The smallest differences of opinion concern two issues: firstly, the more rigorous supervision of animal shelters through increasing inspection frequency and giving veterinary inspectors the power to impose fines for keeping animals in bad conditions; and secondly, increasing the powers of voluntary organisations concerned with animal welfare and providing police support during the removal of mistreated animals. Both these proposals have the approval of most of the people surveyed (91% and 80% respectively), with little opposition (5% and 13% respectively). Three quarters of those asked (74%) were in favour of not allowing animals to be tethered continuously, or kept on tethers shorter than 6 metres and in spaces smaller than 20 square metres even on a temporary basis, while one in five (20%) did not support this. A ban on using animals for entertainment, e.g. in circuses, was endorsed by two thirds of respondents (69%) and opposed by a quarter (24%). Almost two thirds of people (63%) are for prohibiting the slaughter of livestock without first stunning them (with an exception made for ritual slaughter of animals intended for domestic consumption by adherents of religions registered in Poland), while a quarter (24%) question this. The greatest difference of opinion concerns attitudes to the ban on breeding animals for their fur: almost six out of ten people (59%) are in favour of the ban, while close to a third (31%) are against.
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This ‘Current Events and Problems’ survey (364) was conducted using a mixed-mode procedure on a representative sample of named adult residents of Poland, randomly selected from the National Identity Number (PESEL) register.
Respondents independently selected one of the following methods:
– Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI);
– Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI), respondents receiving researchers’ telephone numbers in an introductory letter from CBOS;
– Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), where respondents filled in the online questionnaire independently, gaining access by means of a login and password provided in an introductory letter from CBOS.
– Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI);
– Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI), respondents receiving researchers’ telephone numbers in an introductory letter from CBOS;
– Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), where respondents filled in the online questionnaire independently, gaining access by means of a login and password provided in an introductory letter from CBOS.
In all three cases the questionnaire had the same structure and comprised the same questions. The survey was carried out between 28 September and 8 October 2020 inclusive on a sample of 1133 people (65.3% using the CAPI method, 22.9% CATI and 11.7% CAWI).