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To Treat or Not to Treat: Public Attitudes on the Therapeutic Use of Antibiotics in the Dairy Industry—A Qualitative Study Knowlton, Katharine F.; von Keyserlingk, Marina A. G.

Abstract

This paper describes the views of 779 U.S. residents on questions related to therapeutic antibiotic use in dairy cattle. An online survey was conducted with qualitative (open-ended) questions. Respondents were offered one of three scenarios with varying degrees of information describing a farmer with a sick cow that would benefit from antibiotic therapy. The text replies to the open-ended questions were analyzed by grouping responses with similar comments and identifying patterns or themes. Content analysis showed that many of the participants in this study provided farmers with the social license to treat sick cows with antibiotics; however, some participants commented on the social license not necessarily extending to antibiotic use for growth promotion or prophylactic use. Our findings are not generalizable, but may provide some insight that should be considered when developing policies and practices regarding the use of antibiotics on dairy farms that may promote improved alignment with societal values.

Item Metadata

Title
To Treat or Not to Treat: Public Attitudes on the Therapeutic Use of Antibiotics in the Dairy Industry—A Qualitative Study
Creator
Knowlton, Katharine F.; von Keyserlingk, Marina A. G.
Contributor
University of British Columbia. Animal Welfare Program
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2023-09-14
Description
This paper describes the views of 779 U.S. residents on questions related to therapeutic antibiotic use in dairy cattle. An online survey was conducted with qualitative (open-ended) questions. Respondents were offered one of three scenarios with varying degrees of information describing a farmer with a sick cow that would benefit from antibiotic therapy. The text replies to the open-ended questions were analyzed by grouping responses with similar comments and identifying patterns or themes. Content analysis showed that many of the participants in this study provided farmers with the social license to treat sick cows with antibiotics; however, some participants commented on the social license not necessarily extending to antibiotic use for growth promotion or prophylactic use. Our findings are not generalizable, but may provide some insight that should be considered when developing policies and practices regarding the use of antibiotics on dairy farms that may promote improved alignment with societal values.
Subject
antimicrobial resistance; therapeutic antibiotic use; dairy cattle; consumer; social license
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2023-10-24
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0437325
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86319
Affiliation
Land and Food Systems, Faculty of; Non UBC
Citation
Animals 13 (18): 2913 (2023)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/ani13182913
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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CC BY 4.0