The Animal Tracker (Wave 3 – March 2010)

These results from Wave 3 of Faunalytics’s annual survey of U.S. adults regarding attitudes and behavior toward animals shows strong support for the protection of all animals, but knowledge of some animal issues remains low and the perceived impact of animal advocates is modest.

Based on survey responses from 1,020 U.S. adult respondents, Faunalytics found that at least half believe the welfare of animals is “very” or “somewhat” important for all of the various decisions made by consumers that involve animals. Respondents consider welfare most important when getting a new pet and least important when going to dog or horse races.

With the exception of companion animals, the majority of U.S. adults are “not very” or “not at all” knowledgeable about the animals listed on the survey; animals in laboratories garnered the least knowledge.

Slightly less than half of all U.S. adults think the animal protection movement has had a “moderate” or “significant” impact on government and corporate policies.

Responses to attitudinal agree/disagree statements were positive for animals in most cases, but the majority believe that dissection is a “vital” learning tool, that animal research is necessary, and that eating animals is necessary for human survival.

Over two-thirds of U.S. adults support the specific animal protection-related goal to “minimize and eventually eliminate all forms of animal cruelty and suffering.”

See the PDF file below for the complete details from Wave 3 of the Animal Tracker.