The ethics of animal experiments

In any decision on whether an experiment involving animals is indispensable, and when animal testing is being carried out, § 7a, Section 2, No. 3 of the Animal Welfare Act states that the following principle is to be observed:

“Experiments on vertebrates or cephalopods may only be carried out if the pain, suffering or harm to which the animal is subjected is ethically justifiable in the light of the purpose of the experiment.”

This means that when approval for a project involving animal testing is applied for with the relevant authority, the ethical justifiability of the project must be presented plausibly along with many other aspects. In doing so, the researchers submitting the application must, on the one hand, plausibly describe the degree of harm – i.e. the range and severity of any possible impairment to the animals used – arising from any animal testing to be carried out in the project. On the other hand, the expected benefit is also part of the weighing-up process, i.e. the scientific progress expected and the increase in knowledge gained as a result of the project. The latter must weigh more heavily than the potential impairments experienced by the animal in any testing carried out in the project.

The reason why animals enjoy this protection, provided also by our animal welfare legislation, is to be found in the fact that society recognises animals’ ability to suffer. The animal protection laws in Germany are based essentially on this ethical consideration and they accordingly define the obligations that humans have towards animals as their fellow-creatures entitled to care.