What Does America Think About Animal Research?
Discover insights from FBR’s National Public Opinion Polls™ on public attitudes toward ethical animal research and its role in advancing medical science.
Public Opinion Meets Scientific Advancements
From Humanized Mice to Medical Breakthroughs
Gallup and FBR polls show a statistically significant decrease in support for animal research between 2005 and the present day. Still, the contribution of animal studies strongly highlights their value—from understanding the body and the physiology of disease to ensuring drug safety and speeding up treatment development.
Did you know?
Americans’ support for animal research decreased from 56% to 43% between 2005 and 2022 (April 2005 FBR public opinion survey and June 2022 FBR/Hopkins Univ. public opinion survey).
67% of Americans aren’t aware of the existence of laboratory animal veterinarians and specialists (June 2022 FBR/Hopkins Univ. public opinion survey).
Coming Soon: National Polling Insights
How the Public and Professionals View Animal Research
In partnership with Ardelis Health, FBR is conducting a three-part strategic research initiative to better understand attitudes toward biomedical research involving animals. These insights will help shape FBR’s next national awareness campaign.
- Stakeholder Interviews: In-depth conversations with researchers, veterinary students, and veterinarians to identify key themes and concerns.
- Social Media Landscape Analysis: Tracking online conversations and influential voices—both supporters and critics—to map public sentiment.
- Quantitative Survey (In Progress): A national survey of 2,600 U.S. adults and 300 professionals to assess awareness, beliefs, and openness to change.
Results will be shared soon.
2020 Covid-19 and Animal Research Poll Results
| No. | COVID-19 AND ANIMAL RESEARCH POLL QUESTIONS | Category | March | April | October |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | How personally concerned are you about the chances of you or someone in your family becoming infected with the coronavirus? | Extremely/ very concerned Not very/ not at all Concerned | 51% 15% | 59% 13% | 49% 22% |
| 2. | In general, would you say you support or oppose the humane use of animals in biomedical research, education and testing? | Strongly/ somewhat support Strongly/ somewhat oppose | 50% 38% | 43% 34% | 49% 34% |
| 3. | Would you say you support or oppose the humane use of animals in biomedical research, education, and testing in cases where that research supports the development of a vaccine and treatments for the coronavirus? | Strongly/ somewhat support Strongly/ somewhat oppose | 57% 28% | 54% 30% | 53% 30% |
| 4. | At a recent White House briefing on efforts to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that animal research plays an important role in helping us understand whether or not a coronavirus vaccine will be effective and safe to use. Having heard this, would you say you support or oppose the humane use of animals in biomedical research, education, and testing in cases where that research supports the development of a vaccine and treatments for the coronavirus? | N/A Strongly/ somewhat support | 60% 21% | 64% 22% |
FBR commissioned polls, which Echelon Insights conducted between March 20-24, April 18-21 and Oct. 16-22, 2020. The polls were part of Echelon Insights’ monthly Verified Voter Omnibus tracking surveys and had a sample size of ~1,000 national registered voters.
