Assessment of Domestic and Wild Animals Pets Owned by Residents of Makurdi Metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Peting is an age-old habit of keeping either domestic or wild animals as man’s companion. In Makurdi metropolis, residents also keep pets.  This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing the Domestic and Wild Animal pets owned by residents of Makurdi Metropolis. Questionnaire was used and structured into 2 sections namely, socio- demographic characteristics of residents and ownership of domestic and wild animals pets.  Simple and systematic random samplings were used to select sample locations in which a total of 250 questionnaires were administered; Descriptive statistics, Students t-test and chi-square analysis were used to analyzed data. Result showed that, out of the 250 respondents; 144 were male respondents while 106 were female respondents. Residents of Makurdi Metropolis owned both domestic and wild animal’s pets. The commonest domestic animal pet was the Dog. While the commonest wild animal pet was the Red Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas). It was therefore recommended that more Enlightenment campaigns on the danger of zoonotic diseases transmission associated with pets and their preventive measures should be given to residents of Makurdi metropolis to forestall future public health hazards.