Ohio 4-H PetPALS and companion animal 4-H curricula: Impacts, findings and implications

This Ex Post Facto research, utilizing a static group comparison, sought to answer the following questions:

1. What were the characteristics of youth who completed the 4-H Pet PALS and companion animal 4-H projects in respect to county, age, gender, years enrolled in the project and type of pet species used?
2. What were the attitudes toward pets, attachment to pets and empathic attitudes toward people for youth in the 4-H PetPALS projects? and
3. What were the relationships among attitudes toward pets, attachment to pets and empathic attitudes toward people and youth characteristics for those completing the projects?

A questionnaire was developed and administered on-site to  a census of 4-H Pet PALS youth (N=74) and a random sample of 4-H companion animal youth (n=74).

4-H PetPALS project members exhibited more positive attitudes toward their pets, experienced a stronger attachment to their pets and were more empathic toward people than youth who completed solely a companion animal 4-H project. A regression analysis revealed that youth who completed the 4-H Pet PALS project and were female were significant predictors of attitudes toward pets, and empathic attitudes toward people.