Most Americans Support Vet-Supervised Animal Research
July 13, 2026 – A new Oregon Voices for Biomedical Research survey, with data collected by Ipsos, among U.S. adults aged 18 or older gauged public sentiment and understanding regarding biomedical animal research. The findings reveal that while a quarter of Americans (25%) believe biomedical animal research is never okay, the majority support its application for severe health problems like cancer (56%), rare diseases (52%), and brain/nervous system conditions (50%). Additionally, there is strong resistance to replacing animals with human subjects, with nearly two-thirds (63%) disagreeing that humans should be used to test medical treatments instead of animals.
Detailed Findings
1. Support and Conditions for Animal Research
- Support is highest when animal welfare is actively monitored: 62% of Americans strongly or somewhat agree with I support biomedical animal research when veterinarians watch over it to make sure animals are treated well compared to 13% who strongly or somewhat disagree, 21% who are neutral, and 4% unsure.
- Half of the respondents (50%) agree (somewhat or strongly) that biomedical animal research is okay for human diseases that need better prevention or treatment compared to 17% who disagree, 27% who are neutral, and 7% unsure.
2. Value to Human Health and Funding
- Nearly six in ten Americans (58%) strongly or somewhat agree that biomedical animal research is important to human health compared to 14% who strongly or somewhat disagree, 22% who are neutral, and 5% unsure.
- Nearly half (47%) strongly or somewhat agree with I support using tax dollars to pay for biomedical animal research that has a clear health benefit compared to 23% who strongly or somewhat disagree, 24% who are neutral, and 6% unsure.
3. Acceptable Health Problems for Research
- When asked which health problems justify biomedical animal research when there is no other way to study them, cancer (56%), rare diseases (52%), brain and nervous system conditions (50%) are the most accepted, followed next most by infectious diseases (49%), and heart health (44%).
- All other specific health problems respondents were exposed to received 25% or higher support – organ transplants (38%), reproductive health (31%), and metabolism and weight (26%).
- One in four Americans (25%) state that biomedical animal research is never okay.
4. Human Testing and Alternatives
- Americans are largely opposed to using humans in place of animals for testing: 63% strongly or somewhat disagree with humans, including pregnant women and children, should be used to test medical treatments instead of animals compared to 16% who strongly or somewhat agree, 16% who are neutral, and 5% unsure.
- 39% of Americans surveyed strongly or somewhat disagree with the statement, ‘I would take part in research to test if a medicine was safe, even if I was healthy and did not need it’ compared to 30% who strongly or somewhat agree, 25% who are neutral, and 5% unsure.
- Regarding technology, agreement is split on whether Artificial Intelligence can replace biomedical animal research now: 33% strongly/somewhat disagree, 29% strongly/somewhat agree, 24% are neutral and 15% unsure.
- Over half of Americans surveyed strongly or somewhat agree with the statement, ‘I accept the use of animals in biomedical research if there is no reliable animal-free method’ (53%) and ‘biomedical animal research should continue until methods that do not use animals are shown to be just as good or better’ (51%) compared to 20% surveyed who strongly or somewhat disagree with each statement, approximately one in five who are neutral (21% and 24%, respectively), and 5% (each) unsure.
5. Awareness and Personal Importance
- Three in five Americans (61%) strongly or somewhat agree with the statement, ‘before today, I knew what biomedical animal research was’ compared to 19% who strongly or somewhat disagree, 15% who are neutral, and 4% unsure.
- Two in five adults surveyed (40%) strongly or somewhat agree that biomedical animal research is an issue I care about, while a similar proportion (39%) remain neutral, 16% strongly or somewhat disagree, and 5% are unsure.
These are findings of an Oregon Voices for Biomedical Research survey, with data collection provided by Ipsos, conducted between June 10 – June 12, 2026. For this survey, a nationally representative sample of 2,011 U.S. adults aged 18 and older were surveyed online in English. The results of this research have a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for all respondents.
For full results, please refer to the following annotated questionnaire:
Full Annotated Questionnaire
Biomedical animal research uses animals to help us understand how diseases develop. It is also used to test if new medicines, medical tools, or treatments are safe and work well before they are given to humans. Biomedical animal research does not include testing make-up or beauty products on animals.
Please tell us how much you agree or disagree with the following statements about the role of biomedical animal research in the U.S. (Select one answer for each) [SINGLE SELECT PER STATEMENT; RANDOMIZE STATEMENTS A-J; SHOW STATEMENT K LAST]
- I accept the use of animals in biomedical research if there is no reliable animal-free method.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 10% |
| Somewhat disagree | 10% |
| Neutral | 21% |
| Somewhat agree | 35% |
| Strongly agree | 18% |
| Unsure | 5% |
- Biomedical animal research is okay for human diseases that need better prevention/treatment.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 8% |
| Somewhat disagree | 9% |
| Neutral | 27% |
| Somewhat agree | 33% |
| Strongly agree | 17% |
| Unsure | 7% |
- I support biomedical animal research when veterinarians watch over it to make sure animals are treated well.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 7% |
| Somewhat disagree | 6% |
| Neutral | 21% |
| Somewhat agree | 32% |
| Strongly agree | 30% |
| Unsure | 4% |
- I support using tax dollars to pay for biomedical animal research that has a clear health benefit.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 13% |
| Somewhat disagree | 10% |
| Neutral | 24% |
| Somewhat agree | 31% |
| Strongly agree | 16% |
| Unsure | 6% |
- Biomedical animal research should continue until methods that do not use animals are shown to be just as good or better.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 10% |
| Somewhat disagree | 10% |
| Neutral | 24% |
| Somewhat agree | 31% |
| Strongly agree | 20% |
| Unsure | 5% |
- Artificial intelligence can replace biomedical animal research now.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 17% |
| Somewhat disagree | 16% |
| Neutral | 24% |
| Somewhat agree | 20% |
| Strongly agree | 9% |
| Unsure | 15% |
- Humans, including pregnant women and children, should be used to test medical treatments instead of animals.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 44% |
| Somewhat disagree | 19% |
| Neutral | 16% |
| Somewhat agree | 10% |
| Strongly agree | 6% |
| Unsure | 5% |
- I would take part in research to test if a medicine was safe, even if I was healthy and did not need it.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 19% |
| Somewhat disagree | 20% |
| Neutral | 25% |
| Somewhat agree | 20% |
| Strongly agree | 10% |
| Unsure | 5% |
- Biomedical animal research is important to human health.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 7% |
| Somewhat disagree | 7% |
| Neutral | 22% |
| Somewhat agree | 37% |
| Strongly agree | 21% |
| Unsure | 5% |
- Biomedical animal research is an issue I care about.
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 7% |
| Somewhat disagree | 9% |
| Neutral | 39% |
| Somewhat agree | 26% |
| Strongly agree | 14% |
| Unsure | 5% |
- Before today, I knew what biomedical animal research was. [ANCHOR]
| [SCALE ROTATED 50/50 FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE AND POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE] | Total (n=2011) |
| Strongly disagree | 10% |
| Somewhat disagree | 9% |
| Neutral | 15% |
| Somewhat agree | 31% |
| Strongly agree | 30% |
| Unsure | 4% |
- For which of these health problems is biomedical animal research okay to use when there is no other way to study them? (Select all that apply) [RANDOMIZE]
Total (n=2011) | |
| Cancer | 56% |
| Rare Diseases (genetic, immune system diseases, etc.) | 52% |
| Brain and Nervous System (Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, mental health, blindness, deafness, autism, etc.) | 50% |
| Infectious diseases (HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, flu, measles, COVID, etc.) | 49% |
| Heart Health (heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, etc.) | 44% |
| Organ Transplants / Spinal Cord Repair | 38% |
| Reproductive Health (infertility, endometriosis, pregnancy problems, birth control, menopause, etc.) | 31% |
| Metabolism and Weight (diabetes, weight loss treatments, etc.) | 26% |
| Other (Specify) | 3% |
| None – biomedical animal research is never okay [ANCHOR] | 25% |
About the Study:
These are findings for research conducted between June 10 and June 12, 2026, by Ipsos. For this survey, a sample of 2,011 Americans aged 18 or older were interviewed online in English. Surveys were collected as part of a multi-client omnibus program, where questions on various topics are included in one interview and clients share demographic information collected.
The sample was randomly drawn from Ipsos’ online panel, partner online panel sources, and “river” sampling and does not rely on a population frame in the traditional sense. After a sample has been obtained from the Ipsos panel, Ipsos calibrates respondent characteristics to be representative of the U.S. Population using standard procedures such as raking-ratio adjustments. The source of these population targets is U.S. Census 2024 American Community Survey data. The sample drawn for this study reflects fixed sample targets on age and gender. Post-hoc weights were made to the population characteristics on age, gender, region, ethnicity, and household income.
Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online non-probability surveys. Instead, the precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the survey has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for all respondents. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding.
