Ch. 16— Regulation of Animal Use in Selected Foreign Countries • 367 
Animal experiments may be performed only by 
persons with the required professional knowledge 
in veterinary medicine, medicine, or biology. Sur- 
gery may only be performed by a certified veter- 
inarian. 
Detailed standards governing housing, care, and 
treatment of live vertebrates in experiments were 
published in 1977. The Federal Government has 
published a number of monographs and guidances 
for the use of the States and regulated facilities 
in interpreting the act in a variety of circumstances 
(25). In 1983, the German Veterinary Society is- 
sued codex experiendi providing advice and sug- 
gestions to investigators on the ethical use of ex- 
perimental animals (26). 
There are specific reporting requirements for 
regulated experiments. Each experiment for which 
permission was required must have a report on 
file that describes the purpose of the experiment, 
the number and types of animals used, and the 
nature and performance of the experiment. The 
reports must be signed both by experimenters and 
the director and retained for 3 years. Ownership 
histories must be kept for dogs and cats. Though 
no official national statistics are kept, the Minis- 
try of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry estimates 
that approximately 7 million animals were used 
in experiments in West Germany in 1984 (71). 
Netherlands 
The Netherlands places a great deal of responsi- 
bility for animals' welfare on the head of the facil- 
ity in which experiments are conducted. This over- 
sight is coordinated by the Veterinary Chief 
Inspectorate of the Ministry of Public Health, who 
in 1984 began a major project in cooperation with 
five animal welfare organizations to identify po- 
tential alternatives to the use of animals in testing 
vaccines, serums, and other diagnostic methods. 
This report, and other initiatives, are expected to 
increase research on alternatives (53). 
Like most other West European countries, the 
Netherlands has had a general statute that pro- 
tects animals from cruelty since the late 19th cen- 
tury . It prohibits causing pain, suffering, or injury 
to an animal, or withholding proper care without 
reasonable cause. It provides criminal penalties 
for violations, but it has not been necessary to use 
them for animal experiments (21). A law govern- 
ing trade in livestock confines trade in dogs and 
cats to licensed dealers, thus protecting pets (43), 
and an ordinance taking effect in 1986 requires 
that dogs, cats, and rabbits be purpose-bred (31). 
Finally, the Netherlands has a “protection of na- 
ture” law, which protects some invertebrate 
species— such as Helix pomatia, the Roman snail— 
and all native amphibians (42,44). 
The Law for Experimental Animals, passed in 
1976, established a comprehensive system for reg- 
ulation of animal experimentation, including the 
filing of annual reports by all animal facilities with 
the Ministry of Public Health (45) . The law is based 
on general guidelines issued by the International 
Committee for Laboratory Animals, and became 
the Council of Europe’s model for the Draft Con- 
vention on protection of laboratory animals (see 
app. E). 
The law requires justification for all animal ex- 
periments on vertebrates that are likely to be in- 
jurious or cause significant pain or other distress. 
Experiments must benefit human or animal health 
or food, or science, and must be approved by the 
head of the institute where they are to be done. 
Statistics on registered experiments compiled by 
the Dutch Government indicate that from 1978 
to 1983 about 20 percent of the experiments were 
related to the production of serums, vaccines, and 
other biological products; about 30 percent were 
related to toxicological and pharmaceutical re- 
search; less than 10 percent were related to the 
diagnosis of pregnancy or disease; and about 30 
percent were related to the solution of a scientific 
problem (and the vast majority of these were re- 
lated to medical research). Less than 2 percent 
were for training and education. These statistics 
also indicate that about one-third of the experi- 
ments were done because of legal requirements, 
and less than 10 percent were toxicity tests. 
As do many other countries, the Netherlands 
does not permit painful experiments on vertebrates 
when alternatives are available, and requires 
anesthetics for more than negligible pain except 
where their use would frustrate the purpose of 
the experiment. Where severe and prolonged pain 
will likely result from the procedure, the animal 
must be humanely killed without recovering from 
anesthesia (45). Statistics for 1978-83 indicate that 
