台灣民眾喜歡養寵物,卻又常常棄養。由於被棄養的寵物中有許多是競爭力強、對生態侵害大的外來種,棄養問題也間接造成生態的破壞。本研究以心理學的計畫行爲論(theory of planned behavior)爲架構,探討透過寵物認養網站促進民眾認養與減少棄養寵物的可能性。研究調查了323位認養網站的會員,發現87%的受訪者曾飼養外來種寵物,其中許多是會威脅生態的物種。如何減少這些寵物的棄養,值得重視。此外,65%的受訪者願意在未來無法飼養寵物時,將寵物放到網路上讓其他人認養。因此,認養網站作爲一個減少寵物棄養的平台,深具潛力。本研究也發現,控制信念與家人態度是影響網路認養意向的主要因素。根據此一結果和以上其他發現,本研究對政府及認養網站提供了若干建議。
Many Taiwanese love keeping pets but abandon them later on. Among those abandoned pets, a lot are alien species that pose threat to ecology. With the theory of planned behavior as a framework, this study explored the possibility of using animal-adoption websites to promote pet adoption and reduce abandonment. The study conducted an online survey of 323 members of adoption websites. Results showed that 87% of respondents had kept alien species, including many invasive species. It is thus an important task to prevent these animals from being abandoned. Besides, 65% of respondents were willing to let others adopt their pets through the websites if they did not want to keep them anymore. This suggests that adoption websites can be an effective means to reduce abandonment. Results also indicated that respondents' intention to adopt pets via the websites was influenced by their subjective norm (i.e., opinions from relatives regarding online adoption), and perceived behavioral control (i.e., perceived personal ability and resources to go through the online adoption process). Based on these findings, this study made several suggestions to the government and adoption websites.