While residents of both countries hold similar views on animals as food, Canadians are more likely to oppose zoos and aquariums.
Vancouver, BC [September 22, 2020] – The perceptions of residents of Canada and the United States on animals are similar when it comes to food, but vary greatly on entertainment, fur and trophy hunting, a new two-country Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of representative national samples, 76% of Canadians and 75% of Americans are in favour of eating animals.
About two thirds of respondents in the two countries (65% in Canada and 67% in the United States) are in favour of hunting animals for meat.
While only 8% of Canadians endorse trophy hunting, the proportion rises to 25% in the United States.
“Residents of Canada and the United States establish a clear difference between hunting animals for meat and hunting animals for sport,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Still, while fewer than one-in-ten Canadians are in favour of trophy hunting, the proportion of Americans who consent to this practice is significantly higher.”
While almost two thirds of Americans (64%) favour keeping animals in zoos or aquariums, only 39% of Canadians share this point of view.
More than three-in-five American men (66%) and American women (61%) support keeping animals in zoos or aquariums. In Canada, 47% of men favour this practice, along with 33% of women.
The use of animals in rodeos is endorsed by almost half of Americans (46%) but only one third of Canadians (32%).
In Canada, 49% of Albertans are in favour of using animals in rodeos. Support for the practice is lower in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (39%), Atlantic Canada (36%), British Columbia (33%), Quebec (27%) and Ontario (24%).
In the United States, residents of the Midwest are more likely to favour the use of animals in rodeos (51%) than those in the South (47%), West (45%) and Northeast (39%).
Only one-in-four Americans (25%) and one-in-five Canadians (19%) are in favour of killing animals for their fur.
In Canada, support for killing animals for their fur is highest in Atlantic Canada (30%), followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba (26%), Alberta (20%), Quebec (19%), Ontario (16%) and British Columbia (12%).
Methodology:
Find our Canadian tables here, our American tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca