U.S. Department of Agriculture: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
ORCID IDs
Keith M. Carlisle http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5205-1294
Date of this Version
2022
Citation
Carlisle, K.M, E.E. Harper, and S.A. Shwiff. 2022. An examination of ethical attitudes towards wild pig (Sus scrofa) toxicants in the United States. International Journal of Pest Management 68(1):35-42. doi: 10.1080/09670874.2020.1791372
Abstract
This research aims to understand ethical attitudes of the U.S. public towards the use of a toxicant to control wild pigs (Sus scrofa), a destructive invasive species whose population growth is proving difficult to control through conventional management methods. Using a nationwide self-administered survey with 2,186 completed and returned questionnaires, we found that among six different lethal control methods, toxicant usage was the only method that a majority of respondents (51%) found to be unethical, with no significant differences between rural and urban respondents or between respondents from counties with wild pigs and counties where the species is absent. The primary concerns of respondents were collateral harm to other animals (33%) and possible pain and suffering of wild pigs (13%). This research suggests that the introduction of a wild pig toxicant in the U.S. could face significant opposition, particularly if the public’s concerns highlighted in this study are not well understood and addressed in product development and outreach.
Included in
Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Other Environmental Sciences Commons, Other Veterinary Medicine Commons, Population Biology Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons, Veterinary Infectious Diseases Commons, Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology Commons, Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health Commons, Zoology Commons
Comments
U.S. government work