And recently, MSU has been given some attention after a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals poll ranked physiology and human medicine professor Arthur Weber as one of the worst animal testing offenders at a university. Weber’s glaucoma research includes surgically removing the eyes of live cats while they’re anesthetized. Using live cats is claimed to be necessary for the experiment.

Whether it involves the circus or a research project, it’s hard to tell what the real facts are in an emotion-packed debate between two polar opposites. Each side might have some valid points, but it’s all buried underneath their own sets of farfetched accusations or defenses, most of which have no context or real substance.

Swaying the public will take more than that. While animal-rights activists point to disturbing footage of an animal trainer torturing an elephant, what’s not known is if that was an isolated incident or even if the trainer is still employed.

What circus and researchers fail to do is admit any possible mistreatment — past or ongoing — or even explain why research procedures using animals are necessary.

People, for the most part, are reasonable and need more than YouTube.com videos, random statistics and public relations flack to form an opinion or take action.

That can start in a number of ways. Unfortunately, using animals for experimentation won’t go away. As long as there’s the possibility of a vital medical breakthrough using lab animals, they’ll be a source of research. Very few people are going to choose lab mice over a potential cancer cure.

For research projects that might involve animals, there needs to be a better process to make animals a last resort in testing.

Although a panel including community members is necessary to approve a research project, it might be better to publicize it further. Unprofessional people chiming in on certain projects might seem bothersome, but so is a project clouded in controversy. Science should be scrutinized and made better — researchers should be able to defend and be held accountable for their work.

As consumers of trained-animal entertainment and research results, the public has the power to enforce better practices.

We can demand an investigation into animal training for circus shows and more transparency in animal testing through the use of the almighty dollar.

Just give us all the information first.