Legislation pertaining to canine ownership in Ireland maintains a one-health perspective by establishing a minimum standard of care for dogs while safeguarding human health and wellbeing. However, public awareness of this legislation has not been measured. The goals of this study were first, to estimate and compare the level of awareness, among dog owners and non-dog owners, that eight responsibilities of dog owners are prescribed by law in Ireland. Second, to determine if gender modifies differences in awareness between owners and non-owners, and third to determine whether gender itself is independently associated with awareness of the legal specification of these dog ownership responsibilities. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 679 University College Dublin employees. Exposure information included participants’ dog ownership status, gender, age, and education level. Among dog owners and non-dog owners, we estimated and compared the prevalences of persons with self-reported awareness that each of eight dog ownership responsibilities are prescribed by law in Ireland: Dog fouling in a public place, the leashing and muzzling of certain breeds, holding a dog license, straying of dogs, safeguarding health and welfare of dogs, dog abandonment, prohibition on tail docking of puppies and the mandatory wearing of identification. The prevalence of awareness was low among both dog owners and non-dog owners with substantial awareness (≥ 80%) of only three responsibilities: Those pertaining to fouling, licensing and muzzling and leashing. Awareness that more than one responsibility was specified by law was also poor with only 17.9% (95% CI: 15.1–20.9%) of participants aware of all eight and dog owners essentially just as likely (54%; 95% CI: 49–58%) to be aware of more than one as non-dog owners. For most dog ownership responsibilities, differences in prevalence (PD) of awareness between owners and non-owners and females and males were trivial (PD < 10%). Similarly for most responsibilities, gender did not modify awareness PDs between owners and non-owners. In this well-educated university community, self-reported awareness that these eight responsibilities of dog owners are prescribed by law in Ireland is poor with essentially no difference between dog owners and non-dog owners or males and females. Awareness was higher for those responsibilities which, when not discharged, result in direct negative consequences to humans compared to those that result in direct negative consequences to dogs. It is likely that awareness of the legal status of these eight responsibilities of dog owners among the general public in Ireland is even less than observed in this study.

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自述爱尔兰狗主人八项责任的法律地位意识：狗主人与非狗主人不同吗？

爱尔兰有关犬只所有权的立法通过建立对犬只的最低护理标准，同时保障人类健康和福祉，保持单一健康的观点。然而，公众对这项立法的认识尚未得到衡量。本研究的目标首先是估计和比较狗主人和非狗主人的意识水平，即爱尔兰法律规定了狗主人的八项责任。第二，确定性别是否改变了主人和非主人之间的意识差异，第三，确定性别本身是否与对这些狗所有权责任的法律规范的认识独立相关。我们对都柏林大学学院的 679 名员工进行了横断面研究。接触信息包括参与者的养狗状况、性别、年龄，学历。在狗主人和非狗主人中，我们估计并比较了自我报告意识到爱尔兰法律规定了八项养狗责任中的每一项的人的患病率：在公共场所弄脏狗，对某些品种进行牵引和戴口套，持有狗证，流浪狗，维护狗的健康和福利，遗弃狗，禁止小狗断尾和强制佩戴身份证明。狗主人和非狗主人的意识普遍较低，只有三个责任（≥80%）有充分认识：与犯规、许可、戴口套和拴绳有关的责任。意识到法律规定了不止一项责任的意识也很差，只有 17.9% (95% CI: 15.1-20. 9%) 的参与者知道所有八个人和狗主人基本上同样可能 (54%; 95% CI: 49-58%) 知道一个以上的非狗主人。对于大多数养狗责任，主人和非主人以及女性和男性之间的意识流行率 (PD) 差异微不足道 (PD < 10%)。同样，对于大多数责任，性别并没有改变所有者和非所有者之间的意识 PD。在这个受过良好教育的大学社区中，爱尔兰法律规定了狗主人的这八项责任的自我报告意识很差，狗主人与非狗主人或男性和女性之间基本上没有区别。对那些在未履行职责时，与对狗造成直接负面后果的后果相比，对人类造成直接负面后果。爱尔兰公众对狗主人这八项责任的法律地位的认识可能比本研究中观察到的还要少。