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Conventional cooked and raw dog diets: Swiss owners' risk perception and knowledge
Andrea Knörr1, Angela Bearth2, Xiao Zhou1
1Consumer Behaviour Group, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Preventive Veterinary Medicine
|July 21, 2025
Summary
Many dog owners choose raw diets, unaware of risks like pathogens and nutritional imbalances. Targeted communication is needed to improve understanding of raw meat diet dangers and promote safer feeding practices for canine health.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Nutrition
- Food Safety
- Canine Health
Background:
- Growing trend of raw, homemade meat diets for dogs over commercial alternatives.
- Raw diets present dual risks: pathogen transmission and nutritional imbalances.
- Existing knowledge gaps and misconceptions regarding raw vs. cooked diets and associated risks.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate dog owners' risk awareness and perceptions of raw meat diets.
- Identify knowledge gaps concerning pathogens, hygiene, and nutrition.
- Inform targeted risk communication strategies for safer canine feeding practices.
Main Methods:
- Mixed-methods, cross-sectional study design.
- Qualitative interviews with experts and raw-feeding dog owners.
- Quantitative survey of 601 dog owners on risk perceptions and knowledge of four diet types.
Main Results:
- Raw diet feeders showed lower awareness of health risks and pathogenic hazards.
- Owners perceived commercial dry diets as riskier than raw diets.
- Nutritional knowledge partially mitigates, but does not eliminate, risks of incorrect feed composition.
Conclusions:
- Risk communication must highlight microbiological dangers and dietary complexities.
- Emphasize the nutritional safety of commercial dog food options.
- Foster collaboration between owners and nutrition experts to correct misconceptions and enhance feeding safety.
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