It’s not fur: newspaper article reporting of abandonment and relinquishment of pets exhibit taxonomic biases in framing and language use

Animal domestication and companionship hold cultural and economic
significance, but there are downsides to the practice, too, including the
relinquishment and/or abandonment of animals (cessation of ownership). As
such, the topic attracts a great deal of media coverage. However, we
expect biases exist in the amount and nature of coverage different animal
species receive, informing our views on the relative scale and importance
of ownership cessation in different taxa. We systematically searched
English language newspaper articles about cessation of ownership of pets
in the UK, to test whether major pet groups (cats and dogs; traditionally
kept small mammals; reptiles and amphibians) differ in the number of
newspaper article reports, framing, and language use. Significant
variation was observed, with a greater number of articles focused on cats
and dogs. Reptiles and amphibians received less coverage and were framed
more negatively. Popular newspaper articles write about reptiles and
amphibians in a way that is consistent with ‘othering,’ i.e., using words
that insult, exclude, or dismiss another group. This trend may have
important implications for public perceptions of the taxon, and any
perceived lack of worth of a given taxon may feed into the support for
interventions and policies aiming to optimise their welfare.