Renowned international and German animal rights organizations have been campaigning for years to ban the forced swimming test. It was developed in 1977 by Roger Porsolt and colleagues as a model for predicting the clinical efficacy of antidepressants. Today, it is used in basic research, in pharmaceutical screening of potential antidepressant compounds, and to assess depression-like behavior in “animal models.” 

The test is based on the assumption that an animal placed in a water-filled container will initially attempt to escape but will eventually become motionless, a state that is considered an indicator of despair. The German Mouse Clinic (GMC) at the Helmholtz Center in Munich has previously used the test as part of phenotyping to evaluate the behavior of mouse models in the fields of neurology and emotional disorders.

The test is extremely distressing, but is repeatedly incorrectly classified as moderately distressing in animal testing applications. According to Article 15(2) of the European Animal Testing Directive 63/2010/EU, Member States must ensure that a procedure is not carried out if it causes severe pain, suffering or distress that is likely to be long-lasting and cannot be ameliorated. Since the Animal Testing Directive has not been fully implemented in Germany, “Anxieties” has not been classified as a form of distress to date.

In 2024, Australia introduced a bill in Parliament to ban forced swim tests. ⁽¹⁾ The international pharmaceutical giant Sanofi has also stopped conducting so-called forced swim tests on rats or mice. ⁽²⁾

Sources:
https://presseportal.peta.de/erfolg-mouse-clinic-wird-den-forced-swim-test-nicht-mehr-nutzen/

Further information:
(1) https://www.invitrojobs.com/index.php/de/neuigkeiten/news-archiv/item/6332-schwer-belastende-schwimmversuche-australien-geht-voran
(2) https://www.invitrojobs.com/index.php/de/neuigkeiten/news-archiv/item/6560-sanofi-fuehrt-den-forced-swim-test-nicht-mehr-durch