EXPERIENCES OF A GOVERNMENT AGENCY IN GRANTING THE APPROVAL FOR SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS

The appointment of deputies for the protection of animal welfare in accordance with paragraph 8b of the Animal Protection Law, the nomination of a commission in accordance with paragraph 15, the activities of the commission and the experiences of the Lower Saxony agency for the approval of animal experiments in dealing with applications and the authorization process are described. Approximately 10 per cent of the applications processed by the agency required further clarification on the need for the use of animals, the species or number of animals to be used or the ethical justification. The regulations contained in the Animal Protection Law have been accepted and applied by the scientific community. After the experience of four years, animal welfare has improved, but with no detriment to scientific freedom.