Great news for animals—and for the future of modern medicine.
National polling from Gallup and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine shows a significant shift in how Americans view the use of animals in labs. After decades of public uncertainty, support for animal experimentation is steadily falling.
Changes this big don’t just happen. As a national animal rights organization fighting to end animal experimentation forever, Rise for Animals has spent decades:
- Investigating and exposing the cruelty, corruption, and greed of an industry built on animal suffering.
- Mobilizing activists nationwide to demand systemic change that frees animals from labs.
- Helping laboratory survivors to find safe, loving, forever homes.
- Championing the development of modern, animal-free research methods that speed up cures for people.
Our work is changing hearts and minds—the data prove it. Below are four key facts that show we’re moving in the right direction.
1. Fewer Americans believe animal testing is “morally acceptable.”
Gallup’s latest survey on moral beliefs shows a steady decline in the share of Americans who view medical testing on animals as morally acceptable. In 2001, 65% of Americans found animal testing acceptable. By 2025, that number had dropped to just 47%.
While we still have a lot of work to do to achieve full opposition, animal research is one of the few issues on which acceptance is consistently trending downward over time.
2. Most Americans support phasing out animal experiments.
A 2024 poll commissioned by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine found that 85% of American adults surveyed agree that “animal experimentation should be phased out in favor of more modern research methods.” Additionally, 80% want the federal government to commit to a phase-out plan—and get it done.
What’s really encouraging is that results are consistent across demographics—sex, location, age, and education level all showed similar patterns of support for moving away from animal research.
3. Voters want their tax dollars invested in better science.
The vast majority of respondents want public funding redirected toward modern, human-relevant research methods—tools that reflect scientific innovation and cutting-edge capabilities rather than cruel and outdated animal models.
According to the same Physicians Committee poll, approximately 84% of Americans agree that “government funding should prioritize research methods that do not involve animal testing.” These modern methods include organ-on-chip technology, computer modeling, human tissue cultures, and other approaches that more accurately reflect human biology.
4. This is a rare issue with bipartisan agreement.
While views still differ, bipartisan majorities reject the idea that animal testing is morally acceptable. Across 19 issues Gallup tracks, this is one of the closest points of agreement between Democrats and Republicans.
Here’s what’s driving this alignment: In recent years, Republicans have moved away from animal testing even faster than Democrats, closing what used to be a big gap between the parties. Today, both Democrats and Republicans express similar ethical concerns about animal experimentation.
Taken together, these findings make one thing clear:
The American public is seeing what the animal research industry is desperate to hide—there’s no ethical way to cage and cut open a living, thinking, feeling being.
While Gallup’s latest data shows Americans are still fairly split today, the long-term trend is unmistakable. Year after year, fewer people believe it is morally acceptable to use animals as tools in research. Support has been steadily declining for more than two decades, replaced by a growing conviction that animals deserve compassion—not cages.
At a time when so many issues divide us, we’re coming together—across geography, party, age, and ideology—united in our shared belief that animals deserve better.
Rise for Animals stands at the center of this major shift. We’re driving transparency, reshaping public opinion, and pushing the system to deliver real freedom for animals.
Here’s how you can help.
Tell your legislators: Support the SPARE Act now to free animals from labs.
The Safeguard Pets, Animals, and Research Ethics (SPARE) Act is a bill that aims to end federally funded animal research. This bill aims to prohibit testing on animals in federally-funded labs, phase-out existing animal experiments, redirect taxpayer dollars to non-animal methods, and adopt out “research animals” to caring homes or sanctuaries.
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