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DOG: Animal protection must not bring research to a standstill

Munich, March 2024 – The German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) welcomes the intention to minimize animal testing in accordance with the 3R rule (Replace, Reduce, Refine) and to further increase the protection of animals. However, with the now planned revision of the Animal Protection Act, the legislature is overshooting the mark and would endanger Germany as a research location and isolate it internationally. This fear is expressed by the DOG, which takes a position on the current draft bill during the association hearing and makes suggestions for improvements.

In its statement, the specialist society criticizes, among other things, insufficient details and missing definitions – these leave too much room for interpretation and lead to significant legal uncertainty. “It starts right away in paragraph 1 of the Animal Protection Act, which only exempts the killing of animals from punishment if it is done for a ‘reasonable reason’,” says Professor Dr. med. Claus Cursiefen, Secretary General of the DOG. However, what constitutes such a reasonable reason is not sufficiently specified – neither here nor in Sections 17 and 18, where mandatory penalties are formulated for corresponding offenses.

Legal certainty is particularly lacking when animals bred in laboratory animal farms have to be killed outside of approved studies. This is unavoidable, as the DOG explains in its letter to the responsible Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). When breeding laboratory animals, there are always offspring that cannot be used in experiments – be it because of physical or genetic characteristics or because of their gender. “Continuing to care for these animals in institutions would cost millions to billions of dollars every year in Germany,” says Cursiefen.

These regulations would already mean a high legal risk for biomedical research institutions and those working there, which could even lead to possible prison sentences and therefore does not appear to be acceptable in any way. As a logical consequence, if the current draft law comes into force, no more laboratory animals will be bred in Germany, according to the DOG. This would have dramatic consequences for biomedical research and lead to complete dependence on other countries for scientific advances. “Over time, valuable knowledge and young scientists were lost,” says Cursiefen. This will also dry up clinical research and make the development of new therapies impossible.

But these are urgently needed, especially in ophthalmology. Despite great progress in the treatment of eye diseases, the need for research in this area is still high. “The number of patients has been rising continuously for years, also for demographic reasons, and many research questions are still open,” points out DOG Secretary General Cursiefen. This also applies to eye diseases that could lead to blindness. In order to be able to continue the fight against these sufferings with full commitment, the specialist society is submitting suggestions for improving the draft law.

First and foremost, from the DOG’s point of view, it is essential that the “reasonable reason” from Section 1 is specified in such a way that it also includes the killing of animals bred for scientific purposes. In order to ensure the important 3R objective of reducing animal consumption, the ophthalmologists propose the inclusion of a corresponding regulation in Section 11, which regulates the keeping permit.

“Animal testing facilities are already subject to very close and direct supervision by the state authorities in this regard,” emphasizes Cursiefen. “They are very aware of their responsibility and are experienced in giving appropriate weight to freedom of research and animal protection.” Another DOG demand relates to the new version of Section 18, which provides for flat-rate fines for offenses in the area of ​​animal testing. These urgently need to be adapted to the seriousness of the offense so that purely formal offenses do not lead to unreasonably high penalties.

“Overall, it should be noted that the regulations and approvals in the area of ​​animal testing are often vague and unclear,” says Cursiefen. As a result, on the one hand, the need for legal expertise is increasing, and on the other hand, approval practices are becoming increasingly fragmented and complex. Neither contributes to animal protection, which is so important in itself, but merely to extremely high documentation and personnel costs. This already represents a high hurdle for important research projects.

“If the legal uncertainty is further increased by the new version of the Animal Protection Act, animal testing will be completely stopped and research will be stopped,” the DOG expert is convinced. This would make an indispensable part of medical-ophthalmological research impossible in Germany.