More than three quarters of the participants said more should be done to find alternative testing methods.

New Ipsos-Mori poll reveals attitudes and awareness around the use of animal testing

Public support for experiments on animals is at its lowest level since 2002 according to a recent Ipsos-Mori poll commissioned by the government.

The 2014 survey commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) looked at public awareness of, and attitudes towards, the use of animals in scientific research and possible alternatives.

The survey concludes that while there is support for the use of animals in scientific research, with 68 per cent of those questioned agreeing it is acceptable so long as it is for medical research purposes and there is no alternative, there is also widespread support for more work to find alternatives with over three quarters (76 per cent) saying more should be done to find different ways of testing.

Almost a quarter of those interviewed - 23 per cent - believe that the UK Government should ban the use of animals for any form of research, while around half - 48% - feel it is permissible to use animals in trying to develop new treatments/ procedures for specific diseases. Just 5 per cent thought animal research for cosmetic product/ ingredient testing - already illegal throughout the European Union -  should be permitted.

The survey also points to a mistrust of the industry - with the most commonly held public perception of "organisations that use animals for UK scientific research", when given a list of positive and negative attributes, was that they are "secretive" - a response given by 44 per cent. Just over 30 per cent said they "carried out work essential for human health" (31 per cent).

While 51 per cent agreed that the UK has strict rules on animal use in scientific research only 35 per cent said the rules were well enforced and there is division of whether scientists cause unnecessary suffering to animals with 40 per cent trusting they do not but 32 per cent disagreeing. Just over six in ten (61 per cent) feel that unnecessary duplication of scientific research involving animals might go on, and half believe that scientific research sometimes goes on without an official licence. Almost half (47 per cent) feel that scientists could do more to reduce the suffering of animals used in research.

The poll also found that public knowledge of the animal research field is limited - with three in ten believing cosmetic testing on animals is allowed in the UK, which has not been the case for several years, and 68 per cent saying they are either not very well or not at all informed about the use of animals in research. More than half - 55 per cent - said they were interested in finding out more about the ongoing work to find alternatives to using animals in research and 54 per cent said they would like to hear more about work to improve the welfare of animals used.

Organisations including the RSPCA and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) have responded to the survey findings.

RSPCA chief scientific officer Dr Maggy Jennings OBE said the survey should stimulate more determined efforts to end animal use and suffering in experiments. 

“These results reveal the public’s deep-seated and persistent concerns for animals who suffer in the name of science - concerns which are shared by the RSPCA. Lobbyists for the research community argue that everything possible is done to keep animal use and suffering to a minimum, yet in the past decade there has been a massive increase in the numbers of animals used.  

"There has also been increasing acknowledgment that many experiments are poorly designed and of questionable value, which means that animals have - without doubt - suffered unnecessarily.

“The Coalition Government made a commitment to reduce the use of animals in research, producing a Delivery Plan earlier this year. The results of this survey should leave them in no doubt that large sectors of the public - and the RSPCA - will be waiting to hold them to account if the plan fails.”

Michelle Thew, CEO of the BUAV and its sister organisation Cruelty Free International, said: “The survey bears out the strong public support for the BUAV’s campaign to end the secrecy surrounding animal research and allow an informed public discussion of what is actually done to animals.

"Massive public funding of an industry which is primarily seen as secretive is clearly against the public interest. We call upon the Government – which in 2010 promised to work to reduce animal testing but has presided over a steady rise – to take immediate action to respond to public opinion."

For full details of the 2014 survey findings visit www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/publications/1695/Attitudes-to-animal-research-in-2014.aspx.