ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Humanities and Social Sciences
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1661775
Enhancing Rural Veterinary Governance: Coupling Veterinary Human Resources with Public Attention to Animal Welfare
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chongqing Institute of Engineering, Chongqing, China
- 2Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden Heights, Malaysia
- 3Heilongjiang University, Harbin, China
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Objective: This study aims to evaluate the coordination between veterinary human resources (VHR) and public awareness of animal welfare (PAAW) within the context of rural veterinary governance in China. It investigates how mismatches between institutional service capacity and public demand affect the development of animal health systems and human–animal relationships. Methods: The study proposes a framework to examine the coupling between veterinary service supply and public awareness through the VHR and PAAW subsystems across 31 Chinese provinces from 2014 to 2023. It calculates annual scores using the entropy weight method, checks causal links with a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model, and assesses coordination using the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to assess their alignment. The Relative Development Degree (RDD) model is further applied to evaluate development imbalances, while geographic information system (GIS) mapping visualizes spatial coordination patterns. Results: PAAW has steadily increased in most areas, while VHR has grown more slowly. There is a unidirectional relationship where VHR significantly drives PAAW, but the reverse effect is weak. The overall CCD remains low, with most provinces showing a "VHR Lag" type, pointing to structural imbalances in supply–demand coordination. Conclusion: The study highlights the need to enhance the veterinary workforce and promote public engagement to improve animal health governance. The proposed framework offers a transferable tool for assessing implementation gaps and regional disparities in veterinary service provision, contributing to integrated approaches that connect veterinary systems, public awareness, and rural development.
Keywords: Veterinary human resources, Animal Welfare, public awareness, Coupling coordination degree, rural governance
Received: 11 Jul 2025; Accepted: 28 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Arshad, He, Liu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xianhang Xu, Chongqing Institute of Engineering, Chongqing, China
Mohd Anuar Arshad, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden Heights, Malaysia
Qianqian Chen, Chongqing Institute of Engineering, Chongqing, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.