Students’ Conceptions of Animal Emotions and Cognitive Abilities in Karamoja (Uganda): Implications for Animal Welfare Education and One Health

Pastoralist communities in Karamoja maintain close, multifaceted relationships with animals from early childhood, yet little is known about how children conceptualise animal emotions and cognitive abilities. This pilot study explored these conceptions among Kasimeri Primary School students in Karamoja, Uganda, within the AICS All-In-One Project (AID 012590/04/1). A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire administered to 326 students (mean age 13 ± 2 years). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and generalised linear models (GLMs). Most children attributed a wide range of emotions to animals, with anger (79.6%) and happiness (78.2%) being the most widely recognised and disgust the least attributed (63.2%). Emotion ascription differed significantly by emotion type (p < 0.001) and species (p = 0.004), with significant interactions (p = 0.022). Species differences emerged for several emotions (all p ≤ 0.006), with ruminants and chickens receiving higher attribution than dogs, reflecting different species’ roles in pastoral life. Students from pastoralist households showed lower emotion scores than those with non-farmer fathers (p = 0.025). Cognitive ability attribution also differed significantly across species (all p < 0.001). These findings challenge Western-pet-centred frameworks, highlighting the need for culturally grounded, One Health-oriented educational approaches integrating local animal knowledge with formal welfare and health curricula.