Factory farming of animals for food is unacceptable to 65% of UK adults, according to the second edition of The Vegan Society’s Empathy Index, a survey of 2,000 people in which 82% of respondents eat animal flesh. This means that, at a minimum, more than half of the flesh-eaters surveyed object to the system that produces most of the UK’s animal flesh. Citing data from Compassion in World Farming, the charity states that 85% of farmed animals in the UK are factory farmed.
The Vegan Society added two farming questions to the index this year. The second found that 23% of respondents consider organic animal farming unacceptable. The factory farming result is close to research by Project Phoenix, which found that 67% of UK adults see factory farming as morally wrong or concerning. The same research found that 96% of UK adults either do not know how many animals are farmed in animal factories or underestimate the number.
The index was first run in 2024 and has used the same method in both editions. A nationally representative sample rates 29 forms of animal use on a four-point scale, from completely acceptable to completely unacceptable. Between 2024 and 2026, opposition to testing cosmetic ingredients on animals rose from 84% to 87%, a statistically significant increase. Among female respondents, the figure was 90%, while 71% considered testing medicines on animals unacceptable.
The largest change in the index concerned forcing greyhounds to race, which the share of people finding unacceptable rose from 55% to 60%. The Welsh and Scottish parliaments passed bills to ban it in March 2026.
Hunting deers is now unacceptable to 77% of respondents, up from 74%, while hunting foxes with dogs is unacceptable to 87%. The three least accepted activities were dog fighting, bullfighting, and fox hunting with dogs, all of which are illegal in the UK. The three most accepted were riding horses, using animals in film and TV, and wearing sheep’s wool. The share of people who find visiting zoos acceptable also rose, from 77% to 79%. Meanwhile, 85% of respondents called themselves animal lovers and 3% did not.
The Vegan Society said, “The forms of animal use that we track in the Empathy Index are not all the same; some cause much greater suffering than others. However, we want to challenge the idea that animals exist to satisfy the needs and wants of humans.”
