Friday, 24 May 2019 14:00

Berlin: Applications for a reduction of animal experiments pass the House of Representatives Featured

With the votes of the government faction of Social Democrats, Greens and the Left Party as well as with the Abstention from opposition, two requests passed the plenary yesterday. According to these applications, at Berlin's universities there have to be a reduction of animal use and an expansion of animal-free methods.


In the applications that have now been adopted, the Senate is called to engage itself on federal level to support the transition from animal experimental research to animal-free research and strengthen funding structures for alternative methods.

Animal testing which are combined with severe and likely prolong pain and suffering should be prohibited. Also forbidden should be the use of great apes in experiments. Experiments with
non-human primates should be at least largely reduced.

With the upcoming amendment of the Berlin Higher Education Act, students of life sciences (with the exception of veterinary medicine) should have the opportunity to study without an use of animals.

In education, the use of animals should be avoided as far as possible. Appropriate teaching methods and materials have to be developed which should particular avoid the killing of animals specifically for the purpose of teaching and research. Legal certainty is to be created so that students and employees who reject animal testing and research on animals for ethical reasons do not get any disadvantages in their studies or profession.


Regular, also unannounced controls from the authorities concerning the conduction of animal experiments and to ensure animal welfare should be guaranteed.

In addition, transparency should be ensured with regard to animal experiments, and a database has to be set up which makes it possible to timely mediate the surplus of live animals from research in order to prevent unnecessary death of these animals.

The funding of the Berlin-Brandenburg research platform BB3R is also intended to support.

Sources:
https://www.parlament-berlin.de/ados/18/IIIPlen/vorgang/d18-1312.pdf
https://www.parlament-berlin.de/ados/18/IIIPlen/vorgang/d18-1313.pdf
https://www.welt.de/regionales/berlin/article194061045/An-Berliner-Hochschulen-soll-es-weniger-Tierversuche-geben.html