On the occasion of International Laboratory Animal Day on April 24, the German Animal Welfare Federation is calling for an end to animal testing. A recent survey published by Eurogroup for Animals shows that this is the clear will of the public: a large majority are concerned about the use of animals in research, safety testing and teaching and say that more needs to be done to speed up the complete replacement of animal testing. 84 percent of Germans surveyed stated that the European Commission and its member states should develop a coordinated strategy for this.
"The ongoing political standstill on animal testing in Germany is shameful and can no longer be justified in any way given the clear will of the citizens," criticizes Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation. "The people's mandate is clear: the government must follow up its promises in the coalition agreement with action and finally present an overall strategy and provide greater support for the development of animal-free methods in order to initiate the overdue phase-out before the end of this legislative period!"
STRATEGY FOR THE PHASE-OUT IS OVERDUE
In total, over 2.5 million animals are used in experiments in Germany every year - for example for basic research, but also as required by law in so-called safety tests for medicines or chemicals. In addition, more than 2.5 million animals are killed as "surplus", as revealed for the first time by the current laboratory animal statistics from 2021, which are published annually by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. For animal rights activists, this is further proof that urgent action is needed. And from a scientific point of view, the transition to modern animal-free methods is also overdue: the results of animal experiments are difficult to transfer to humans, as animals differ, for example, in their way of life and duration, physique, metabolism, genetic make-up or immune system response. Mandatory animal tests for chemicals and medicines also provide a false sense of security, as substances that are considered harmless and helpful in animal tests can have no effect in humans or even trigger unexpected side effects.
Note to editors: In the survey commissioned by Eurogroup for Animals, over 10,000 people from eight EU countries were questioned, including Germany as the country with the highest "consumption" of laboratory animals. The results also confirm the European Citizens' Initiative "Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics - For a Europe without animal testing", which is currently calling on the EU Commission to take action with almost 1.2 million signatures. You can find the Eurogroup survey here:
https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/77-eu-citizens-want-transition-non-animal-science
