- The committee behind the popular initiative “Yes to the ban on animal and human experimentation – Yes to research paths with impulses for safety and progress” presented its arguments.
- The request calls for a ban on animal testing.
- Newly developed products that were developed using animal experiments should also no longer be allowed to be imported.
- The people and the cantons will decide on the bill on February 13th.
In addition to ethical reasons, the initiators asserted that animal experiments were inefficient: the bodies of animals differed too much from those of humans for relevant knowledge to be gained from them. Of 100 active ingredients, 95 failed in human experiments, despite apparently promising results in animal experiments.
So-called human experiments should also be banned. Such attempts gave vague averages, according to the initiative committee. They offer no security to the individual. Animals as well as people who are not able to give their consent are now being used as guinea pigs – regardless of their individual interests, said committee member Luzia Osterwalder.