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.
Measuring public attitudes on monkey research, animal research for cancer cures and animal research for animal health
A majority of adults polled in 2016 supported research with monkeys to study vaccine development to prevent the spread of the Zika virus and also to help treat illnesses such as Alzheimer’s. However, there is a large gap between men and women on support for biomedical research with monkeys. Men are more supportive of research with monkeys, according to the poll.
2016 Monkey Research Poll
| No. | Question | Answer | Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Would you support or oppose the use of monkeys in research to study vaccine development to prevent the spread of the Zika virus? | 52% : Support 33% : Oppose | August 31 - Sept 1 |
| 2. | Would you support or oppose the use of monkeys in research to develop treatments for illnesses such as Alzheimer's, autism, and depression? | 54% : Support 30% : Oppose | August 31 - Sept 1 |
| 3. | Do you think conducting research using monkeys is an acceptable or unacceptable practice for developing disease treatments and vaccines? | 43% : Acceptable 28% : Unacceptable | August 31 - Sept 1 |
| 4. | Do you think conducting research using monkeys is an acceptable or unacceptable practice for developing disease treatments and vaccines? | 51% Male & 35% Female : Acceptable 20% Male & 35% Female : Unacceptable | August 31 - Sept 1 |
| 5. | Would you support or oppose the use of monkeys in research to develop treatments for illnesses such as Alzheimer's, autism, and depression? | 63% Male & 47% Female : Support 23% Male & 37% Female : Oppose | August 31 - Sept 1 |
| 6. | Would you support or oppose the use of monkeys in research to study vaccine development to prevent the spread of the Zika virus? | 59% Male & 45% Female : Support 24% Male & 42% Female : Oppose | August 31 - Sept 1 |
| 7. | Do you agree or disagree with medical and scientific research that requires lab animals? | 52% : Agree 33% : Disagree | Jan 29 - Feb 1 |
| 8. | If a veterinarian prescribed a drug for a pet and you learned that research using animals was conducted during the drug’s development, would you allow your pet to take the drug? | 54% : Yes 30% : No | Jan 29 - Feb 1 |
| 9. | In the State of the Union, President Obama announced the launch of a "War on Cancer." If medical and scientific research with lab animals will accelerate our efforts to fight cancer, would you be comfortable with such research? | 64% : Yes 20% : No | Jan 29 - Feb 1 |
The Jan. 29 – Feb. 1, 2016 poll includes 1,000 U.S. adults from a YouGov online panel. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.2%.
