The opponents of animal experiments are preparing a new popular initiative. At the same time, one is also active on the side of those who carry out animal experiments.
The Swiss universities recently set up a commission that wants to provide better information about animal experiments. The commission is called “Staar” and more than 20 institutions have already joined.
Andrea Jaggi from SRF spoke to Michael Hottiger. He is a professor at the Institute for Molecular Mechanisms in Diseases at the University of Zurich.
SRF News: Is this commission an alibi exercise? After all, it does not save any animal from experiments.
Michael Hottiger: Staar is certainly not an alibi exercise. Animal testing is hugely important to basic, biomedical and veterinary research and we believe it will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.
On the other hand, the general public, the media and politicians have the right to know why and how animals are used in Swiss research.
Do you fear the new attempts to abolish animal testing?
It is important that every institution that carries out animal experiments also provides transparent information about it. I am convinced that the Swiss people, if they are well and factually informed, can take responsibility.
I am convinced that a well-informed population will continue to say yes to animal experiments in the future, as they have done many times over the past few decades.
Swiss animal protection says that far too many surplus animals are produced that then have to be killed. Are such messages counterproductive to their interests?
These numbers of the so-called surplus animals have been published by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office since 2014. So it is nothing new that not all animals can be used in an experiment.
There are various reasons, such as the genotype, for example, why a bred animal cannot be used and that there is at most potential for improvement. This is clear in and of itself and has been discussed for some time and solutions are also being sought.