Based on the report of BBC news (2021.03), I found that the pet abandonment rate has increased during the epidemic. As a pet owner, I am very concerned about pet abandonment. After academic research, it is clear that pet abandonment The high-risk group of problems is sojourners. Sojourners (Temporary / freedom service / public facing, digital nomads, study abroad students, [high disposable income / low attachment to resident area) are more likely to abandon their pets due to the unstable living conditions , sojourners are a huge group(Jackson,2006). In order to solve the problem more realistically, I set the target group as the international students who need mental support from pets but not sure if they can keep pets for long in the UK The design of intervention is based on stakeholders. A questionnaire survey. For the pet adoption organisation, I chose to conduct an interview with the agent. The agent l choose is the RSPCA the UK biggest official pet adoption agency which also offer pet foster service , I contacted the student union to propose a student group for pet abandonment and adoption.
Why pet abandonment is very important to me and to society. According to the research of Cusack, O (2014), pets have a positive impact on people’s mental health. Especially for people living alone, pets have a positive impact on people’s psychological problems It has a healing effect and can effectively reduce loneliness and increase pet owners’ sense of social participation. Despite this, compared to last year, the pet abandonment rate this year has increased by 53% (sky news, 2022, 04). Lancer, Darlene (May 17, 2016) proposed that abandoned pets will have emotional damage and will accompany them for a lifetime. In order to solve the problem of pet abandonment among international students and the psychological harm of abandoned pets, the reasons for abandonment, the screening suggestions before raising pets, and various Stakeholder joint research becomes especially important.
For different stakeholders, I designed different interventions to get the best solution in series. First, after going through the questionnaire and with the permission of the participants, I and two of them were studying abroad and had pet abandonment experience. First of all, you need to understand their background stories. Character a’s pet cat was abandoned by a friend who returned to China. He had raised pets for two years and faced the problem of high prices for bringing pets back to China due to the epidemic, so he decided to abandon pets and keep them. To another friend. Character b’s pet was purchased online when he first came to the UK, but he was ready to go to Australia for postgraduate studies after studying in the UK, because it was inconvenient to bring pets and he was not sure where it would develop in the future. I left the cat to my juniors. For these two “abandoners”, I sent them the adopter application form that the RSPCA provided me, assuming they were eligible for pet ownership before returning to pet ownership Criteria, including but not limited to permanent residence, source of income, and basic knowledge of pet ownership, etc. Unfortunately, none of them meet the basic criteria, which means they probably shouldn’t have pets. It is necessary to screen pet owners, which can reduce the pet abandonment rate in some aspects. Combined with the big data of the questionnaire, it can also be found that most international students do not have the basic conditions for raising pets.
The second intervention is that I contacted the school union and the local RSPCA organisation in London. I hope that the union will consider the selection of students who are willing to keep pets before the new students enter the school, and recommend the use of adoption instead of buying. Purchase, the adopter application form of RSPCA can be adjusted in more detail according to the situation of international students. For pets, the most important thing is a stable residence, including whether the apartment allows residents to keep pets, as well as a fee for pet care and pet repatriation Clear notice. In the previous questionnaire, I noticed that more than 95% of the participants believed that the pet protection law is also an important way to reduce pet abandonment. I also proposed to RSPCA that the pet protection law must be set before adoption or before pets Read the document. I am currently discussing a more effective cooperation plan with the Student Union and RSPCA. Due to the people who concerns about the pets may not met the adoption demands they have options to fostering pet and decide if keep pets or not.
These two interventions include quantitative and qualitative research methods, with literature and big data as the cornerstone, and then in-depth research for specific stakeholders to try to find solutions or reduce the abandonment rate in the future. Questionnaire surveys, or interviews, etc. are not In a perfect methodology, data and answers may be untrue due to lack of professionalism, morality of participants, etc. Therefore, the combination of various research methods and the step-by-step attempt of intervention can predict the possible optimal solution.
To sum up, in the whole intervention process, the positive impact is that I have recognised many people who are willing to contribute to pet abandonment like me. They are not only professional adoption organisations, but also caring social people. . I felt a kind of inspiration to support me to continue to research and solve the problem of pet abandonment. Secondly, trying various research methods also allowed me to learn different combinations of skills. It was my first time to interview strangers, and also the first I made suggestions for the existing official platform. If the cooperation of the Federation of Students was promoted in the later stage, it would also be a huge process in my study career. During the research process, I not only learned about resource integration, but more importantly, I have the ability to think independently and critical thinking.
Independent thinking refers to the fact that I have only a simple idea and now I am about to solve problems. Except for the help of my supervisors, I am advancing the research process by myself. Critical thinking is also thanks to my supervisors for pointing me to thinking at different stages. Some holes in the question gave me more inspiration. The most critical thing I have met is the people who abandoned pet or may abandon pet will never use the form and the best way to avoid this is change the target audience into the potential pet owner..
For me, learning edges is not the ability I already have, but the new ability I acquired during this project. For example, when Cecilia was my first tutor, I discovered the participants behind the data. Emotional expression, when I analysed the questionnaire data, I felt the different emotional data of those who were willing to keep pets and those who abandoned pets.
The interests of different stakeholders should be gradually analysed. For pet owners, or potential pet owners, they can think more deeply about their sense of responsibility and mission for pets, thereby deepening the bond between them and pets. For pet adoption organisations, this It is a kind of propaganda for the platform, and due to the continuous increase in the abandonment rate, most adoption organisations are already overloaded with work, reducing the abandonment rate and increasing the adoption rate can also help the adoption organisation return to normal operation. Said that this is a concern for the study abroad group, and students who do not keep pets should seek help from the school if they encounter psychological problems.
In the future, I hope to verify from the practical results of our school, whether the premise screening and suggestions can effectively reduce the pet abandonment rate of international students, and if it works, it should be promoted in various student federations in the UK. Reduce the abandonment rate and increase the adoption rate, so that pets and international students no longer face psychological problems.
Regarding the last question, the future implications for me may be that I will try to work with pets or study abroad groups. This project made me discover my interests and I realised that I have the courage to change the world. For adoption organisations and I think the school and so on may try to cooperate in the future. It is difficult for a group to make changes to the abandonment of pets. He needs the cooperation and help of all parties. The potential founder may be the government due to the increased abandonment rate will solved partly and international student mental problems will be improved as well.
Reference
Lancer, Darlene (May 17, 2016). “What is Emotional Abandonment?”. PsychCentral. Archived from the original on 2015-05-02.
Cusack, O., 2014. Pets and mental health. Routledge.
Jackson, J. (2006). Ethnographic pedagogy and evaluation in short-term study abroad. Languages for intercultural communication and education, 12, 134.
Simon Susen (2022) Reflections on the (Post-)Human Condition: Towards New Forms of Engagement with the World?, Social Epistemology, 36:1, 63-94, DOI: 10.1080/02691728.2021.1893859
Rhoades, H., Winetrobe, H. and Rice, E., 2015. Pet ownership among homeless youth: Associations with mental health, service utilization and housing status. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 46(2), pp.237-244.