Harassment in the animal welfare sector

Survey of harassment in the animal welfare sector

This survey is about the extent to which people working in the animal welfare sector in Canada have experienced harassment in its various forms.

This survey is anonymous – your name and contact details will not be collected as part of this survey.

The results of this survey will be presented at Humane Canada’s National Animal Welfare Conference 2021, and may be prepared for publication at a later date. Your completion of this survey is considered consent that your data be included in this analysis.

If you are willing to share your experiences, please answer the 9 questions below. The survey will take approximately 3 minutes of your time.

Please contact Rebecca Ledger at info@pet-welfare.com if you have any questions regarding this survey.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

Dr Rebecca Ledger
Animal Behaviour & Welfare Consulting

Dr Valli Fraser-Celin
Winnipeg Humane Society

Christian Lim
Prosecutor, City of Edmonton

Dr Peter Collins
University of Toronto

Question Title

* 1. In which province / territory do you work?

Question Title

* 2. What is your main role in / with the animal welfare sector?

Veterinarian

Animal welfare supervisor / manager

Animal cruelty inspector/investigator

Administration

Fundraising

Policy maker

Animal care attendant

Animal law

Criminal Prosecutor

City / Provincial Prosecutor

Researcher

Teacher / Instructor / Lecturer

Expert witness

Private animal rescue

Animal advocacy

Volunteer animal rescue

Communications/PR

Dog training / animal behaviour

Professional dog walking

Animal control

Dog grooming

Journalism / Media

Law enforcement

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. For how many years have you worked in / with the animal welfare sector?

Question Title

* 4. Have you experienced any of the following forms of harassment in the last 5 years, as part of your professional work in / with the animal welfare sector? (Select all that apply).

Any kind of verbal harassment

Demeaning remarks

Offensive gestures

Unreasonable verbal criticism

Harassing phone calls

Any kind of physical harassment

Unwanted touching

Physical assault involving a weapon

Physical assault not involving a weapon

Threats to injure

Threats to kill

Any kind of psychological harassment

Exclusion from groups / activities

Withholding information from you

Persistent opposition of your views

Being watched

Being followed

Any kind of digital harassment / cyberbullying

Posting threats online

Replicating an online persona

Creating a webpage intended to mock or belittle you

Making false allegations about you online

Any kind of sexual harassment

Unwanted sexual advances

Unwanted sexual jokes

Unwanted sexual gestures

Unwanted sexual tone

Attempts to undermine your credentials

Attempts to undermine your credibility

None of the above

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 5. If you have experienced harassment in the past 5 years related to your work in the animal welfare sector, please indicate the impact that this harassment has had on your wellbeing

	Not at all	Slightly	Somewhat	Very	Extremely
Angry	Angry Not at all	Angry Slightly	Angry Somewhat	Angry Very	Angry Extremely
Upset	Upset Not at all	Upset Slightly	Upset Somewhat	Upset Very	Upset Extremely
Sad	Sad Not at all	Sad Slightly	Sad Somewhat	Sad Very	Sad Extremely
Afraid	Afraid Not at all	Afraid Slightly	Afraid Somewhat	Afraid Very	Afraid Extremely
Embarrassed	Embarrassed Not at all	Embarrassed Slightly	Embarrassed Somewhat	Embarrassed Very	Embarrassed Extremely
Worried	Worried Not at all	Worried Slightly	Worried Somewhat	Worried Very	Worried Extremely

Question Title

* 6. If you have experienced harassment in the past 5 years related to your work in / with the animal welfare sector, please indicate the impact this harassment has had on your activities. (Select all that apply)

Caused me to avoid going to work

Caused me to avoid social media

Caused me to lose sleep

Caused me to become physically sick

Caused me to lose trust in my peers

Caused me to lose friends

Caused me to avoid going to my usual activities

Caused me to consider a change of career

Caused me to change my career

Caused me to change role within the animal welfare sector

Caused me to lose clients/contracts/work

Negatively impacted donations to my organization

Negatively impacted my reputation

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 7. What have been the reasons or topics of the harassment that you have experienced? (Select all that apply)

The prosecution of a defendant accused of animal cruelty

The seizure of an animal/animals

The cost of veterinary care for an animal

Your humane treatment of animals

Your animal training/handling techniques

Personal dislike

Racism

A decision to euthanize an animal in your care

A decision to euthanize an animal in someone else’s care

Unknown

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 8. Where does the person (or people) who have harassed you work? (Select all that apply)

Someone within my organization

Someone affiliated with an animal welfare organization other than my own

A member of the public

Someone I know personally

Someone I know of, but we have never met

A stranger, unknown to me

I do not know who has been harassing me

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 9. Gender: How do you identify?

Man

Non-binary

Woman

Prefer to self-describe, below

Self-describe: