Inventarisatie naar de behoefte aan veterinaire zorg onder huisdiereigenaren met een bijstandsuitkering

Abstract

A part of the Dutch population is dependent on welfare. This group of people also tends to own one or more pets and of course they do have more financial concerns, also when it comes to providing veterinary care for their pets. Up until now details about the number of pets within this group were unknown. In the current research we will try to get an idea of the magnitude of the problem within the Netherlands. The number of pets within this group of people was investigated, as well as the percentage that might have not received the necessary veterinary care. Data has been obtained by having written and oral surveys amongst people on welfare and a written survey among veterinarians. The oral survey has been completed by 312 people and the written survey by 229 people. Of the veterinarians that were approached 143 filled in the survey. The results show that on average the number of pets within welfare households is lower than in regular households. The current research showed that almost 55 % of all respondents were pet-owners. Almost 60% of those pet-owners admit that due to financial problems their pets might not have received the necessary veterinary care. These financial issues were proven to also be the reason for pets being surrendered to animal shelters. It also appears that people with limited financial means have a need for places to obtain the necessary veterinary care. This need seems to be greatest in the four largest cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht), as well as a number of other large cities (e.g. Groningen, Nijmegen, Arnhem, Breda and Tilburg). The percentage of people on welfare in these cities is larger than elsewhere. The need mainly proves to be for primary preventive and curative veterinary health care. At the time of the research there are too few possibilities for people on low incomes to obtain veterinary care, not only because people are unfamiliar with the possibilities, as well as the fact that they might not be available for everyone.