Animal experiments in Switzerland

1. Switzerland’s strict animal welfare legislation

University research and pharmaceutical research in Switzerland meet the requirements of one of the strictest animal welfare legislations in the world. Every individual animal experiment and every animal-housing facility in Switzerland must be approved by the relevant cantonal veterinary office. Before animal experiments are carried out, every project is first reviewed internally. Then the study documents are forwarded to the cantonal veterinary office responsible for approval. In the application, the researchers must explain why an animal experiment is necessary, what the benefit of the experiment is and to what extent the animals are exposed to stress. The housing conditions for laboratory animals must likewise be presented in the application for approval. The cantonal committee for animal experiments, on which animal welfare representatives also sit, reviews the application, clarifies questions with the researchers and issues a recommendation to accept (possibly with conditions)or reject the application. It is the cantonal veterinary office that eventually issues the approval.

An animal welfare officer and the responsible veterinary authority regularly – in some cases also without prior notification – check that the housing and husbandry requirements for the approved project are met. The scientists, too, have an interest in ensuring the animals are kept under species-appropriate living conditions; for only studies in animals that are optimally treated and looked after and also remain as stress-free as possible under study conditions deliver meaningful results. Every institution that carries out animal experiments must produce an animal report, stating how many animals were actually used, what species were involved, the purpose of the experiments and the severity of stress to which animals were exposed.