Animal testing increases by 12.5%
In 2015, the number of animals used in animal experiments increased by 12.5%. Behind the increase are mostly behavioral studies on large herds and species conservation projects, but the number of severely stressed animals has also increased.
A total of 682,000 animals were used for animal experiments in 2015. This is 12.5% more than the year before.
In part, the increase is due to behavioral studies that have used large numbers of experimental animals. Examples include studies of large poultry flocks in relation to husbandry practices and feeding, or species conservation projects on the dispersal of amphibians. For example, about 23,000 tadpoles were bred under laboratory conditions as part of an amphibian project. The animals were then released at different locations and further observed. The aim was to identify the factors influencing the development of the amphibians under different environmental conditions.
However, the number of moderately (+14.7%) and severely (15.9%) stressful tests increased even more. This affects 143,000 and 14,000 animals, respectively, mainly mice and rats.
The animals are mainly used for basic research as well as for development and quality control. The number of animals used for experimental purposes in the field of medical diagnostics has halved compared to the previous year to 3600 animals. No animals were used for experiments in the field of cosmetics or tobacco products.
Legislation and approval of animal experiments
The Swiss Animal Protection Act also regulates animal experiments, among other things. For all interventions and actions on animals for experimental purposes, an application must be submitted to the cantonal authorities. In this application, the researchers must justify and prove that the benefits that society derives from the animal experiments outweigh the suffering of the laboratory animals (balancing of interests). Furthermore, it must be shown that no alternative methods are known for the proposed animal experiment and that the animals will be subjected to as little stress as possible. The applications are evaluated by a cantonal animal experimentation commission consisting of specialists and animal welfare activists. The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) has the overall supervision and at the same time also a right of appeal against the cantonal permits.
