ABSTRACT

Dog walking can disturb shorebirds. To inform disturbance reduction campaigns, we conducted a survey of dog walkers in Maine, New York, and South Carolina to understand beach recreationists’ attitudes about the benefits and constraints of voluntarily leashing dogs on beaches and their social and personal norms related to leashing. Common perceived constraints to leashing included perceptions about reducing socialization for dogs, reducing exercise for dogs, and dogs listening to owners’ commands. Common perceived benefits to leashing included perceptions about preventing dogs from running into areas for beach-nesting birds, increased safety for dogs, increased control by dog walkers, and keeping dogs away from other people. Benefits, location (i.e., state), and norms were strong predictors of the leashing frequency near beach-nesting birds. We discuss behavior change strategies to leverage social norms, decrease the constraints, and increase the benefits of voluntarily leashing dogs near shorebirds.

摘要

遛狗会打扰水鸟。为了为减少干扰活动提供信息，我们对缅因州、纽约州和南卡罗来纳州的遛狗者进行了一项调查，以了解海滩休闲者对在海滩上自愿拴狗的好处和限制以及他们与拴狗相关的社会和个人规范的态度。对牵引绳的普遍感知限制包括减少狗的社交、减少狗的运动以及狗听主人命令的看法。牵引绳的常见好处包括防止狗跑进海滩筑巢鸟类的区域、提高狗的安全性、加强遛狗者的控制以及让狗远离其他人。利益、位置（即州）和规范是海滩筑巢鸟类附近牵引频率的有力预测因素。