Montgomery, Jasmine, Liang, Zhanming, and Lloyd, Janice (2024) A Scoping Review of Forced Separation Between People and Their Companion Animals. Anthrozoos, 37 (2). pp. 245-267.

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Abstract

People often form strong emotional attachments with their companion animals. When this relationship is threatened by forced separation, people may take risks to their safety and wellbeing to protect and stay with their companion animal. This scoping review maps concepts, evidence, and impacts of forced separation between people and their companion animals in the categories of domestic violence, homelessness, and natural disasters. Five relevant databases were searched: Medline Ovid, Psycinfo, Scopus, CINAHL, and EMCARE Ovid. Forty-two articles on the human–animal bond and situations of separation were included in the analysis, which revealed devastating results for companion animals, with death and loss of the animals prominent across all three categories of forced separation. Significant psychological distress and an increased risk to safety in people were found across all three categories. Risks people took to avoid forced separation included failing to evacuate to safety during natural disasters, delaying fleeing an abusive relationship, and prolonged homelessness while waiting for pet-friendly accommodation. Responsibility (who is responsible for the animal) and the cultural belief of human wellbeing as superior to that of animals emerged as major themes. This scoping review identified the extent of research evidence and gaps in the domains of domestic violence, health, homelessness, natural disasters, and animal welfare. It will assist researchers, policy makers, and service providers working in these areas in understanding the characteristics and the complexities of situations involving forced separation of people and their companion animals to optimize supports.

Item ID:	81392
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1753-0377
Copyright Information:	© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author (s) or with their consent.
Date Deposited:	30 Jan 2024 02:32
FoR Codes:	30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3009 Veterinary sciences > 300999 Veterinary sciences not elsewhere classified @ 25% 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4407 Policy and administration > 440799 Policy and administration not elsewhere classified @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420305 Health and community services @ 25%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2003 Provision of health and support services > 200399 Provision of health and support services not elsewhere classified @ 25% 20 HEALTH > 2002 Evaluation of health and support services > 200299 Evaluation of health and support services not elsewhere classified @ 25% 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200406 Health protection and disaster response @ 50%
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