Animal experimentation in Switzerland is underpinned by three key pillars: authorisation, training, and inspection. The multi-level authorisation process for performing experiments with animals is described in Figure 1; the legal requirements for running a facility housing experimental animals are depicted in Figure 2. With regard to education programmes, researchers, study directors, animal welfare officers and animal caretakers must meet the requirements for primary training and continuing education at all times. Lastly, cantonal authorities are obliged to conduct at least one inspection of all animal facilities annually and to control at least 20 percent of all authorised animal experiments.

After the Animal Protection Ordinance was enacted, the 3R Research Foundation Switzerland was created in 1987 to promote the “Three Rs” (3Rs) – Replacement, Reduction, Refinement – in animal research. The Swiss 3R Competence Centre (3RCC) was established in 2018 as a joint initiative by academia, industry, regulatory bodies, the government, and animal welfare associations. In 2022, the Swiss National Science Foundation launched the national research programme “Advancing 3R – Research, Animals, and Society” to investigate how to advance the 3Rs effectively by identifying and addressing the potential, challenges, and limitations of the 3R approach. The founders of the 3R principle, William Russel and Rex Burch, introduced their proposal in 1959 with the aim of protecting animals used in research. The 3R principle has since then established itself worldwide as the foundation of an ethical approach to animal research and is an integral part of today’s Swiss research landscape. For each experiment using animals, researchers must verify that there is no viable replacement and ensure that the number of animals used is kept to a minimum; moreover, procedures must be refined not only to avoid or minimise pain, distress, and other adverse effects, but also to enhance animal well-being. The 3R principle formed the basis for the Swiss legal framework regulating animal experimentation.

Swiss society has become increasingly protective of animals and more sensitive toward their welfare and the conditions of their use for research purposes. At the same time, the lack of transparency and proactive communication on the part of the research community has led to one-sided information about how and why animal research is carried out. Because the Swiss political system allows citizens to express their concerns through popular initiatives, one result of this lopsided status is that several initiatives against animal experimentation have been submitted since 1985, all of which, however, have been rejected at the ballot box. Despite not achieving their aims, they have contributed to a cultural shift marked by improved interactions and exchanges between researchers and society, more transparent and proactive communication about animal research, and more careful integration of ethical considerations by researchers. This proactive stance is not merely a reaction to popular pressure: it also stems from a genuine commitment to openness and ethical responsibility. Nevertheless, the subject remains a matter of concern in society, as demonstrated by the two popular movements currently under way: a petition calling for the gradual abolition of harmful animal experiments has been submitted to the federal authorities, and a group of citizens has recently submitted a new initiative to the Federal Chancellery to ban animal experimentation.

In 2022, swissuniversities drew up the Swiss Transparency Agreement on Animal Research (STAAR) to sustain and further promote public trust in animal research in Switzerland. 

The overall objective of STAAR is to improve communication and transparency regarding the use of animals in research, with its members committing to openness and dialogue with the public. Moreover, STAAR aims to anchor communication on animal experimentation in current practice and to enhance and expand existing coordination measures and networks at the national level. With its specific focus on improving communication in animal research and related efforts, STAAR requires its members to report progress towards greater transparency and identify gaps and setbacks in this process.

In becoming signatories to STAAR, members agree to be transparent about their use, or their support for the use, of animals in research by pursuing and upholding the following four key commitments:

A list of specific objectives derived from the four Commitments is also defined each year by the Plenary Assembly. These objectives comprise more concrete actions that the signatories agree to pursue and implement. It is expected that the objectives will evolve over time. The following objectives (the so-called “STAAR standards”) were adopted for 2023 until mid-2024:

While staff working with animals are informed about the use of animals at their institution, this is not necessarily the case for employees whose work does not concern animal research; they therefore represent a potential target audience for transparency activities. 

This question explicitly addresses transparency vis-à-vis employees not directly involved in animal research. Informing all employees has a “culture of care” component, as it helps make the work of animal researchers and experimenters understood by colleagues. 

In the 2023 questionnaire, this question was refined to better reflect the organisation of SARs, which in most cases either have limited or no staff or all their employees deal with projects related to animal research. Of the three SARs that have staff who do not deal with animal research, one provided information via newsletter and/or internal publications or communications.

Regarding PARs, all carried out at least two of the four proposed activities. Visits to animal facilities were organised by nine PARS (9/14, 64%), while 10 (10/14, 71%) provided information about animal research via presentations, courses, or newsletters.

Please note that the question “Explicit mention of animal research during the recruitment and induction process” was removed from the questionnaire, as many PARs considered it unfeasible to implement systematically for all recruitments.

Paul Scherrer Institut: Dr Florian Dehmelt from Tübingen was invited to hold a seminar entitled “We need to talk: Having conversations on lab animals” with a special invitation for all staff from the BIO division but open for the entire PSI. 

Collaboration between research groups in Switzerland and abroad is common practice. This question addressed whether transparency was discussed in collaborative projects. Results indicate that this is not yet common practice.

Members reported that they communicated openly about animal research in response to external enquiries from the media, for example (71% of PARs and 25% of SARs). They also offered opportunities to learn more about animal research by making statements, giving interviews, and contributing to long-form articles (71% of PARs and 67% of SARs). Proactive statements and press conferences were less common than in 2022, possibly because no national vote on animal research was held in 2023. 

In 2023, did your organisation decline to engage with the media on the subject of animal research?

All members engaged with the media when requested; however, some members reported that they received no media requests. In a single case, a member was unable to reply to a media request because the timeframe was too short.

Increasing transparency goes hand-in-hand with encouraging staff to communicate openly and enabling them to improve their communication skills. Most PARs (10/14, 71%) offered media training or referred staff to external organisations for training. This is not common among SARs (only two provided training), possibly because some have no employees, but rather members who are professionally active in other organisations.

The 3Rs principle guides animal research in Switzerland. It is therefore expected that organisations performing animal research or supporting the use of animals in research communicate transparently about their efforts to uphold the 3Rs. Members use various communication channels to do so: examples of implemented 3R methods are published on websites, in publications, and on social media. Nine members awarded 3R prizes in 2023, two more than in 2022. More public debates were organised in 2022 compared to 2023, most likely in response to the national vote held in February 2022. SARs are increasingly publishing examples provided by other institutions. 

Most members (20/26, 77%) published a statement on animal research on their website. In other cases (5/26), the member believes the overall website information adequately explains the 3Rs and the member’s involvement in animal research.

Commitment 3 encourages STAAR members to offer additional opportunities for the public to learn more about their involvement with animal research. In 2023, most PARs (12/14, 86%) and 7/12 SARs (58%) organised or participated in at least one activity addressed to patients, schools, or the public. Four PARs and five SARs were present at outdoor events to answer questions about animal research and discuss this topic openly.

Visits to animal facilities allow the public to see research animals and learn more about their housing conditions. These visits can have various formats, and most PARs (64%) opened their animal facilities to visitors from outside their organisation. 

7 of the 9 PARs that opened their animal facilities hosted special interest groups, such as politicians, journalists, and firefighters, while 6 of these 9 PARs received students/staff from other institutions, including schools. More PARs (3 in 2023 vs 1 in 2022) made animal facilities open to external visitors during open days. Some members who did not open their facilities to external visitors named security and hygiene concerns such as high security biocontainment as the main reason for this decision.

SARs were not asked this question since they do not maintain animal facilities.

STAAR was launched in June 2022, and its first report was published in late December 2023. Only 46 percent of members provided information about their participation in the new initiative, possibly because communications about the annual report were done in January 2024 and hence not reported on the STAAR survey 2023. Openly discussing STAAR is an important step to raising public awareness not only of the existence of this initiative but also of the possibility to contact members to learn more about their activities around animal research.