On 2nd September 2014 Ipsos MORI published its report on the findings of a survey into public perception of experiments carried out on non human animal subjects.
The survey was commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), and is the first of a research series, with another survey to be carried out in two years. It looked at public awareness of scientific research using animals, attitudes towards it, and public awareness of alternatives.
There has been a significant decrease in the percentage of people who support animal research for medical purposes, where there is no alternative – down to 64%, a fall of 12 points since 2008, and the lowest figure since 2002*.
Some other figures:-
- Almost a quarter of the UK public (23%) are against ALL animal testing whether there is an alternative or not.
- 76% believe that more work should be done to find alternatives to animal testing.
- 44% feel that organisations who carry out animal experiments are “secretive”.
- 32% do not trust that scientists cause unnecessary suffering to animals.
- only 8% endorse the use of animals in tests for non medical products (e.g. household cleaners).
The full report and the survey data can be downloaded in PDF on the Ipsos MORI web site here.
(*historical comparison figures from Daily Mail Online)