Pet Ownership at FPTU Can Tho Campus 1 Ho N. Ly, 2Mach H. Ngoc, 3Huynh L.M. Thu, 4Pham Y. Thanh, 5Nguyen H. Thang FPT University – Can Tho Campus PC15409 – Group 3 1lyhnca150186@fpt.efu.vn 2ngocmhca150077@fpt.edu.vn 3thuhlmcs150744@fpt.edu.vn 4thanhpycs150285@fpt.edu.vn 5thangnhcs150224@fpt.edu.vn Abstract— This document gives survey results and answers to the following questions: “Do students at FPT University in Can Tho like to raise pets? If so, what are they? Why do students like to do so? How do they take care of the pets?” Keywords— Pet, Student, Can Tho, FPTU, Dog, Cat. I. INTRODUCTION There is no doubt that animals play an important and special role in people’s lives. More and more students in Vietnam begin to raise pets. There are many studies which show that pets keep their owners happier and healthier than who do not have pets. Some of them suggest that owning a pet can help students enhance their academic performance and relieve stress. Whilst searching for information about pet ownership at our university, we found nothing. That is the reason why we carry out an investigation about pets and pet ownership within FPTU students. A. Common types of pets Humans and animals have a long-time relationship dating back to c. 10000 BC. This kind of relationship first began as hunter and prey, and later become companionship. The most common type of pet in that time was dog. Originally used for hunting, guarding and herding.[1] Throughout the middle age, people considered cats as witchcraft, devil and evil spirits. The purpose of having cats in the house was to control rodents for humans as humans transitioned from nomadic to agricultural life.[2] Later 18th century, cats then steadily began to serve as pets in families, and now they become the second most popular pets around the world. In the recent years, the choice of pets has been expanding. Fish, reptiles, pet rodents, gerbils, pet insects, and many other species have found their place in people’s houses. B. Reasons people get a pet Many pets own attractive looks and unique features. Others may have lovely natures and costly price. An example is Welsh Corgi dogs. A Corgi breed puppy’s price can be up to 60 million VND. That astronomical price is the result of its cuteness and lovely nature. Pets help people form relationships. They are friends, family members. Having a pet allows pet owners to connect with other animal lovers. Beginning a conversation, pet owners usually have many catchy things to talk to other people. Pet can also be a present. Lovers give pets to each other as a gift, and they raise them until they get married. Past studies proved the benefits of pets to human health. These studies suggest that pets supply ongoing comfort and reduce sadness, stress and loneliness. Many animals are also used in therapies such as speech therapy, physical rehabilitation and help patients recover from PTSD and various other mental illnesses.[3] With the explosion of social media, pets become a part of people’s virtual living. More and more pictures, videos about pets are being posted on Facebook and YouTube. Some do that for fulfilling their desire of sharing their moments to the world, others have financial reasons. C. Reasons people refuse to have a pet Although having a pet bring many benefits, not everyone wants pets in their houses. Below are several common reasons why people say no to pets. First, lack of time is considered as the main reasons people do not want to raise a pet. In this modern era, people are running out of time to their works, families, social networks and many other things. In the other hand, raising a pet need a lot of time and patience. So many people prefer coming to Pet café to play with them rather than having one at home. Next, money is also a problem. It’s not easy for everyone to spend 20-30 USD per month for pet food and even much more for their health checkup, vaccination. While pets can benefit our health in many ways, they have the potential to spread infection and cause many human illnesses.[4] Pet’s furs and feathers can cause allergies and asthma to human. Hygiene problems can lead to some deceases and dangerous parasites. Another major reason makes people cannot raise a pet is the denial from their family members or roommates. Although pets are adorable and cute, they are not much different from wild animals. They are surely noisy, destructive and somehow, dirty. Not every neighbors or landlords are easygoing people and they are not willing to hear woofs or meows all day long. D. Things people usually do to take care of their pets With the information provided in several online articles and our own observations, we carry out some common ways people do to take care of their pet: Feed pet with good food, provide good environment, do health check, sterilize them, etc. Vet’s centers now provide pet sitting services. People who are busy with works, study, or going on a vacation can leave their pet at these centers. Others seek for help from their family members or friends when the time comes to. II. METHODS A. Participants The sample consisted of 127 participants (49 males, 75 females, 3 others) mostly between the ages of 18 to 23 and from different majors were obtained using random sampling as the participants were drawn from population of students who are attending FPT University Can Tho Campus. Participation was completely randomly and voluntary. they go to school or they're not at home for a long time. Most people usually spend 3 hours a day caring for their pets and play with them. For the checkboxes question “Which kind of pet are you currently having?”, “dogs” is the most popular answer 45/61 (73.8%), followed by “cats” 29/61 (47.5%) and ornamental fish 8/61 (13.1%). Other answers are not much valuable. The reasons why they began to raise pets is summarized in Table 2. TABLE II B. Materials REASONS FOR RAISING PET FROM PEOPLE WHO OWN PETS An online survey was used in order to collect the information about pet ownership in the school, which comprised of demographic questions regarding the student personal information, age and if they own pets or not; further questions about the pets; and scale questions for reasons why they love or hate pet. C. Procedures On 14th January, seeking for participants, we published our survey hyperlink on Coc K3, Coc K2 and Coc Can. They are three wellknown Facebook groups of FPTU students. We also sent the link to our friends asking for help. When people click on the link on PC or smartphones, it takes them to a form on Google Drive, the survey. On the top of the survey, it was made aware to the participants that our survey is completely anonymous and all the information they provide will be using as study materials only. The participants were asked if they were FPTU student or not. If they are FPTU students, they can continue to other questions. If not, the survey stops and pops up a thank you message. Further details about what we asked will be shown in the appendix. On 10th February, we decided to stop accepting new response and we received 135 responses in total. However, we had to remove 8 responses which were not from FPTU students since this survey is focused on FPTU students only. In the end, we got 127 valuable responses. Reasons Disagreed Neutral Agreed (%) (%) (%) Pet’s looks and natures 4.7 9.8 85.2 Need a friend 9.8 26.2 64 Influence from other people 88 8.2 3.8 For profit purposes 96.8 1.6 1.6 For posting on SNS 44.3 39.3 16.4 Coincidence 19.7 21.3 59 Some other reasons were recorded and the most representative one is “The passionate love for animals”. Of the 61 subjects about how respondents take care of their pets, we had summarized the results in Table 3. TABLE III WAYS TO TAKE CARE OF PETS AND THE RATING Ways Rarely (%) 3.3 8.2 13.1 21,4 21,3 16.4 Feed healthy foods Clean up pet’s place Health check, vaccination Play outdoor Train new skills Meet new friends Sometimes (%) 26.2 19.7 19.7 31.1 32.8 27.9 Usually (%) 70.5 72.1 67.2 47.5 45.9 55.7 III. RESULTS The descriptive analysis of the data we got was conducted electronically by using Google Form and Microsoft Excel. It can be seen in Table 1; 127 participants are consisted of 61 with pets (48%) and 66 with no pets (52%). In 52% no pets, there are 49 students (38.6%) answered that they will have pet in the future, and 17 students (13.4%) said no to pet. To present the results, we divided those participants into three different groups like in the Table 1. Currently have a pet Will raise a pet in future Say no to pets Total Of 49 responses from participants who want to raise pet in near future, over seventy percent people chose to raise a dog, nearly fifty percent chose to raise a cat, and ten percent chose to raise ornamental fish. Other kinds of animals did not receive much attention. The reasons why they want to raise pets is summarized in Table 4. TABLE IV TABLE I REASONS FOR RAISING PET FROM PEOPLE WHO DO NOT OWN PETS THREE GROUPS OF PARTICIPANTS Number of participants 61 49 17 127 B. Group 2: People who are not raising pet now but in the future they will Percentage 48% 38.6% 13.4% 100% Reasons Pet’s looks and natures Need a friend Influence from other people For profit purposes For posting on SNS Coincidence Disagreed (%) 2.1 16.3 84 96 36.7 71.4 Neutral (%) 6.1 18.4 10.2 4 28.6 14.3 Agreed (%) 91.8 65.3 5.8 0 34.7 14.3 A. Group 1: People who are currently having a pet Within 61 feedbacks from people who have pets, 37 (61%) of the respondents said that they have raised pets before. 57 (93.4%) answered that they would ask other people to look after their pets when C. Group 3: People say no to pet There are 17 answers from people who do not want to have pet. In this research paper, we do not need much information from this group. In the end, we decided not to summarize their reasons. IV. DISCUSSIONS The school has a total of 1700 students at the present, the number of responses is 127, so the results may not accurately reflect the current situation in our school. But it is well worth as the reference. From the results, values which are greater than 50% will be considered as the answers. Values which are less than 50% will not be considered and will not be used to answer the topic questions. As you can see in the Table 2 and Table 4, the results are similar except the reason “Coincidence”. This big difference may be come from the second group. Respondents in this group may have already prepared themselves for having a pet in near future. Maybe they do not think that they will coincidently take care of any pets from unknow sources. V. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, students of FPTU Can Tho Campus do like to raise pets. There’re only 17 of 127 participants (13,4%) who do not want to have pet in their houses. That’s mean students of FPTU Can Tho Campus really like to raise pets. Dog and Cat are two kinds of pet that most students chose to raise. For the reasons why they do so, they decide to raise pet because they like pet’s appearance and nature. Students also need a friend to talk to when they are bored. It could also be a coincidence, they picked it up or someone gave them a pet. And most of the students have love for animals. They raise pets not for profit purpose, and they are not affected by other people’s influence. On average, students spend 3 hours a day taking care of their pets. They often feed them delicious, healthy food. They also create the best possible habitat for their pets. They have their pets vaccinated. They will see a vet if their pets have health problem. When they are away or go to school, they will have someone else help them take care of the creatures. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] Tergel Khashbat, Effect of pet ownership on student’s stress, self-esteem, self-efficacy and impact on their academic performance, Dublin Business School, 2017. Serpell, J., The Domestic Dog, 2017. Tami Pohnert, The Effects of Pet Ownership on Physical Well-Being in Older Adults, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010. Whiteman H., 2010, “Pets: are you aware of the risks to human health?”, Available: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/292829