Views on Animal Experimentation

According to these research findings, in 2009, 63% of British adults said they trust inspectors of animal facilities to discover any misconduct that may be occurring, although 62% also felt that the unnecessary duplication for animal experiments may be taking place. Slightly more (65%) felt that they wouldn't be surprised if unauthorized experiments were conducted behind closed doors.

Regarding general acceptance of animal experimentation, 70% said they could accept it as long as it was for medical research purposes, while 71% said they could accept it as long as there was no unnecessary suffering to the animals. Half of respondents agreed that such experimentation should only be conducted for life-threatening purposes.

People also tend to accept animal experimentation for testing chemicals that could harm people (48%) somewhat more than testing chemicals that could harm wildlife or the environment (39%).

On animal rights organizations, British adults consider the distribution of leaflets (70%), petitions (63%), and protest stickers/posters (61%) to be acceptable, although fewer believe that demonstrations outside labs (38%) are acceptable. In addition, many consider other tactics as unacceptable including road blocks (55%), verbal harassment (58%), or the freeing of animals (50%). Less than half of a percent condone violence or terrorism in protesting the use of animals in research.