This time, however, instead of calling for a total ban on this horrible practice, the text focuses "only" on blocking animal experimentation.
The opponents of animal and human experimentation in Switzerland do not give up and so after four popular initiatives already rejected, they try again for the fifth time and, just over a year after the last rejection, they have launched a new text. However, the requests are much more moderate than the previous ones and, instead of calling for a total ban on experimentation, they focus "only" on animal experimentation and on two related practices, the keeping or breeding of animals for experimental purposes and the trade in animals for such purposes. The promoters motivate the launch of a new campaign just 15 months after the defeat at the polls with the fact that "animals continue to suffer from experiments that are not only ethically problematic, but produce scientifically unreliable results". And they underline, however, that the subject is too serious to let much time pass between two votes. The new popular initiative is the fifth presented in Switzerland, a country that clearly has nothing against animal and human experimentation, given that he rejected four of them before this one. The last one, that of February 2022, even with 80% against. But the others were no less: in 1993 a text that tried to prevent animal testing on the grounds that drugs tested on animals would not be safe for humans was rejected with a majority of 72%. In 1992 the percentage was much lower, 56% of "no", but this probably happened because the initiative did not ask for a ban, but rather a strong limitation of the experiments. Finally, in 1985, the people answered NO with a majority of 70% to an initiative calling for the abolition of vivisection. In Switzerland, as in many other countries, animal experiments are allowed to develop drugs and therapies with which to improve the treatment of diseases in humans and animals. However, the regulation on the subject is very strict and authorizes an experiment only if the objective cannot be achieved in any other way and if the utility for society justifies the suffering inflicted on the animals.Furthermore, the number of animals that researchers can use is limited to what is strictly necessary and they must be very careful to cause them as little suffering as possible. The popular initiative rejected in February 2022, asked to ban both animal experiments and the importation of products developed using such experiments.
He also called for research conducted without using animals to receive the same state support accorded today to research that uses animals. Finally, it also demanded a ban on experiments on humans. The citizens, however, decided to reject the text convinced that by approving it, new medicines for human and veterinary use developed thanks to animal experimentation would no longer be available in Switzerland, such as vaccines. And that the research and development of medicines and other plant protection products would have been scaled down if not actually transferred abroad.
Simona Sirianni
Opponents try again against animal testing: Fifth popular initiative in Switzerland.
