LAUSR

is working to reduce, refine, and replace the use of animals when and wherever it is feasible. Positive language resonated with focus group participants, while defensive posturing raised red flags. In a follow up national poll4, participants offered a serviceable answer to the question of how to change public opinion: a clear majority—57%—would support the use of animals in scientific and medical studies for “the development of medications prescribed by veterinarians for animals.” It’s important for people to understand how medications and treatments developed with animal research have included drugs to prevent heartworm infection, vaccines against rabies, and even better nutrition for pets. And in the future, companion animals stand to benefit from discoveries that will result from scientific and medical studies with animals. After all, an estimated 12 million cats and dogs are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States5. If, as FBR’s polling results suggest, the public is likelier to view animal research more favorably when they consider how their pets are direct beneficiaries, efforts to change hearts and minds should focus on the relationship between scientific studies with animals and advancements in veterinary medicine. Messages should also emphasize how medical research benefits both humans and animals simultaneously. In an educational outreach campaign that launched in late 2017, FBR is using this approach to promote broader public understanding of, and subsequent support for, animal research.