The Swedish Research Council has conducted an opinion survey on animal
experiments, to find out the attitudes of the public to animal experiment issues.
A majority accepts animal experiments
The survey is a follow-up of the survey on the same theme conducted in 2008, supplemented with a few additional questions. Just over 1 000 persons, aged 16 or older, were questioned in September 2018. Those asked form a representative selection of the Swedish population. The results were compared with the 2008 results where possible.
In the 2018 survey, just over half (55 per cent) of the public consider that animal experiments are acceptable in medical research. The more in-depth follow-up questions showed that almost eight out of ten (78 per cent) accept animal experiments in some contexts. If it is also known that the animals are treated well and not exposed to unnecessary suffering, acceptance increases to 82 per cent. The fact that acceptance increases when those questioned are challenged with new circumstances shows the complexity surrounding animal experiment issues.
The results of the survey is found in the report (in Swedish).
Have the attitude towards animal experiments changed over time?
The attitude towards animal experiments is approximately the same as in 2008.This means that acceptance of animal experiments continues to be high in Sweden compared to the rest of Europe, where acceptance is around 65 per cent.
The results also show that the most common contexts in which people think animal experiments are conducted are research, medicine and the pharmaceutical industry, which was also the case in 2008. One difference compared to 2008 is that fewer people think of makeup and beauty products (which are banned from being tested on animals).
The question about different types of laboratory animals, which was not asked in 2008, gives an indication of the public differentiating between types of animals in animal experiments. The highest acceptance was for fruit flies and rodents, and the lowest for household pets, such as dogs and cats.
In general, the public also trust researchers to comply with legislation and regulations for animal protection.
In summary, the survey shows that there is broad general acceptance of using animals in medical research, and that the attitude of the public has not changed between 2008 and 2018.
