455
Animal Welfare Act
(AniWA)
of 16 December 2005 (Status as of 1 September 2023)
Preamble
The Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation,
based on Articles 80, paragraphs 1 and 2, and 120, paragraph 2
of the Federal Constitution1,
after consideration of a Federal Council Dispatch dated 9 December 20022,
decrees:
Chapter 1 General Provisions
Art. 1 Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to protect the dignity and welfare of animals.
Art. 2 Scope
The present Act applies to vertebrates. The Federal Council decides to which invertebrates it applies and to what extent. In doing so, it is guided by scientific knowledge on the sentience of invertebrate animals.
The following are reserved: the Hunting Act of 20 June 19863, the Federal Act of 1 July 19664 on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage, the Federal Act of 21 June 19915 on Fishing, the Vocational and Professional Training and Education Act of 13 December 20026 and the Epizootic Diseases Act of 1 July 19667.
Art. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
dignity means the inherent worth of the animal that must be respected when dealing with it. If any strain imposed on the animal cannot be justified by overriding interests, this constitutes a disregard for the animal’s dignity. Strain is deemed to be present in particular if pain, suffering or harm is inflicted on the animal, if it is exposed to anxiety or humiliation, if there is major interference with its appearance or its abilities or if it is excessively instrumentalised;
well-being: the well-being of animals exists if:
husbandry and feeding are such that their bodily functions and their behaviour are not disturbed and excessive demands are not made on their capacity to adapt,
species-specific behaviour within the limits of their biological capacity to adapt is guaranteed,
they are clinically healthy,
pain, suffering, harm and anxiety are avoided;
animal experiment means any procedure in which a live animal is used with the aim of:
testing a scientific hypothesis,
observing the effect of a particular procedure in the animal,
testing a substance,
obtaining or testing cells, organs or bodily fluids, except when this is in the context of agricultural production, diagnostic or curative activities involving the animal or to determine the health status of animal populations,
obtaining or replicating organisms alien to the species in question,
teaching or training.
Art. 4 Principles
Any person who handles animals must:
take account of their needs as well as possible; and
ensure their well-being as far as the intended purpose permits.
No person may inflict pain, suffering or harm on an animal, induce anxiety in an animal or disregard its dignity in any other way without justification. It is forbidden to mishandle, neglect or unnecessarily overwork animals.
The Federal Council forbids any further activities involving animals if such activities disregard their dignity.
Art. 5 Training and information
The federal government may promote the continuing education and training of persons who handle animals.
The Federal Council may provide for certain training and education activities to be recognised by the federal government or the cantons.8
The federal government shall ensure that the public are informed about animal welfare issues.9
Chapter 2 Handling of Animals
Section 1 Animal Husbandry
Art. 6 General provisions
Any person who keeps or looks after animals must feed and care for them properly and provide them with the activities and freedom of movement needed for their well-being as well as shelter where necessary.
Having consulted the interested parties, the Federal Council shall issue regulations, specifically minimum requirements, on the housing of animals, taking into account the scientific evidence, the state of the art and technical developments. It shall prohibit forms of animal husbandry that contravene the basic principles of animal welfare.
It may define requirements for the continuing education and training of animal keepers and persons who train animals or perform care-related activities on them.10
Art. 7 Reporting and authorisation requirements, bans11
The Federal Council may make certain types of animal husbandry, the keeping of certain animal species and certain care-related activities subject to the fulfilment of reporting or authorisation requirements.12
The placing on the market of mass-produced housing systems and installations for farm animals requires federal authorisation. Authorisation is only granted if the systems and installations meet the requirements of species-appropriate husbandry. The Federal Council regulates the authorisation procedure and determines the farm animals to which the procedure applies. It may allow exemptions from authorisation requirements for certain types of animal husbandry.
Authorisation is required for the commercial and private keeping of wild animals that pose particular challenges in terms of husbandry and care. It is forbidden to import dolphins and other cetaceans (Cetacea).13
The Federal Council may require the placing on the market and the use of pain-inducing aids and equipment for the training and control of animals to be reported or authorised or may forbid these activities.14
Art. 8 Investment protection
Following construction, buildings and installations for farm animals licensed in accordance with this Act may be used for at least their normal depreciable life.
Art. 9 Animal care workers
The Federal Council may define the areas other than agriculture in which the use of animal care workers is necessary.
Section 2 Animal Breeding and Genetic Modification
Art. 10 Breeding and production of animals
The use of natural and artificial methods of breeding and reproduction must not cause any pain, suffering, harm or behavioural disorders in the parent animals or their offspring that result from or are associated with the breeding objective, subject to the provisions on animal experiments.
The Federal Council shall issue regulations on the breeding and production of animals and define the criteria for assessing the permissibility of breeding objectives and reproduction methods; in doing so, it considers the animal’s dignity. It may prohibit the breeding, production, husbandry, import, transit, export and placing on the market of animals with certain traits, in particular physical and behavioural abnormalities.15
Art. 11 Authorisation requirement for genetically modified animals
Any person who produces, breeds, keeps, manages or trades in genetically modified animals requires cantonal authorisation. Any person who produces, breeds, keeps or trades in such animals for the purpose of research, therapy or diagnostics requires cantonal authorisation in accordance with Article 19 paragraph 1. In other cases, the authorisation procedure is based on the provisions governing animal experiments and on the Gene Technology Act of 21 March 200316.
Having consulted the interested parties, the Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology, the Swiss Expert Committee for Biosafety and the Swiss Committee on Animal Experiments, the Federal Council shall define the criteria for weighing the implications of producing, breeding, housing and using genetically modified animals and trading in such animals.
The Federal Council regulates the requirements binding on the institutes in which activities as defined in the second sentence of paragraph 1 are carried out, and in particular the requirements with regard to infrastructure, personnel, supervision and documentation.
It may allow exemptions from the authorisation requirement or simplifications in the authorisation procedure, particularly if it is certain that the animals will not experience pain, suffering or harm, or develop behavioural disorders as a result of the production and breeding methods and that their dignity will otherwise be taken into account.
Art. 12 Reporting requirement
The cantonal authority must be notified of genetically modified animals that experience pain, suffering or harm, or develop behavioural disorders as a result of production or breeding or whose dignity is violated in other ways.
The cantonal authority shall submit these reports to the cantonal committee on animal experiments and decide on the admissibility of further breeding on the basis of the application.
The Federal Council regulates the details of the report.
Section 3 Trade in Animals and Animal Products17
Art. 1318 Authorisation and reporting requirement
Authorisation is required for commercial trading in animals and the use of live animals for advertising purposes.
The Federal Council may require supra-regional events involving animals to be reported or authorised.
Art. 14 Conditions, restrictions and bans19
For reasons of animal welfare, the Federal Council may attach conditions to, restrict or prohibit the import, transit and export of animals and animal products.20 The foregoing does not apply to kosher or halal meat in order to ensure an adequate supply of such meat to the Jewish and Muslim communities. Authorisation to import and obtain such products is restricted to members of these communities and associated legal entities and partnerships.
The import, transit and export of cat and dog pelts and products made from them is forbidden, as is trade in pelts and products of this kind.21
Section 4 Animal Transport
Art. 15 Principles22
Animals must be transported under protected conditions and without unnecessary delay. The travelling time from the place of loading must not be more than six hours. The Federal Council shall issue the exception provisions.
Having consulted the industry organisations, the Federal Council shall regulate requirements for the continuing education and training of personnel entrusted with the commercial transport of animals.
Art. 15a23 International animal transport
Any person who performs international animal transport on a commercial basis shall require authorisation.
The Federal Council may stipulate which international standards must be observed for international animal transport.
Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses for slaughter and poultry for slaughter may only pass through Switzerland by rail or air.
Section 5 Interventions performed on Animals
Art. 16
Painful interventions may only be performed under general or local anaesthesia administered by a specialist. The Federal Council shall determine any exceptions. It shall determine which persons are deemed to be specialists. This is subject to the provisions of this Act relating to animal experiments.
Section 6 Animal Experiments
Art. 17 Limitation to the indispensable minimum
Animal experiments which inflict pain, suffering or harm on animals, induce anxiety in them, substantially impair their general well-being or which may disregard their dignity in any other way must be limited to the indispensable minimum.
Art. 18 Authorisation requirement
Any person who wishes to conduct animal experiments requires authorisation from the responsible cantonal authorities.
Activities as defined in the last sentence of Article 11 paragraph 1 are equivalent to animal experiments within the scope of the authorisation procedure.
The competent cantonal authority shall submit requests for authorisation for animal experiments to the cantonal committee on animal experiments in accordance with Article 17.
Authorisation is issued for a limited period. They may be subject to conditions and requirements.
Institutes and laboratories which conduct animal experiments and facilities that house laboratory animals must keep records of the animals housed.
Art. 19 Requirements
The Federal Council shall define the requirements to be satisfied by institutes and laboratories in which animal experiments may be conducted in terms of the continuing education and training of personnel and the authorisation of laboratory animal housing, breeding and trading facilities.
The Federal Council defines the criteria for assessing indispensability under Article 17.
It may declare certain experimental purposes to be impermissible.
An animal experiment is impermissible in particular if the pain, suffering or harm it involves or anxiety it induces is disproportionate to the anticipated gain in knowledge.
Art. 20 Conduct of experiments
Pain, suffering or harm may be inflicted on, or anxiety induced in, animals only if this is unavoidable for the purpose of the experiment.
Experiments on animals higher on the evolutionary scale may only be carried out if the purpose of the experiment cannot be achieved in animal species that are lower on the evolutionary scale and no suitable alternative methods are available.
The Federal Council shall regulate the further requirements governing the conduct of experiments.
Art. 20a Providing information to the public
After an animal experiment has been concluded, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO)25 shall publish the following information:
The title and field of the animal experiment;
The purpose of the experiment;
The number of animals used per species;
The degree of severity of the constraint imposed on the animals.
The Federal Council may provide for further information to be published as long as there are no legitimate overriding private or public interests.
It regulates the details, in particular the level of detail, of the information that the persons responsible for an animal experiment must provide. In doing so, it takes into account the legitimate overriding private or public interests.
Section 6a26 Animal Experiment Information System
Art. 20b Purpose and content
The federal government operates an information system to support the statutory tasks of the federal government and the cantons relating to animal experiments.
The information system contains the following personal data:
data concerning administrative and criminal prosecutions and sanctions;
data concerning authorisations and the monitoring of animal experiments;
data concerning authorisations and the monitoring of laboratory animal housing, breeding and trading facilities;
data concerning notifications of lines and strains that have a significant clinical pathological phenotype;
27data concerning continuing education and training;
data necessary for the publication of animal experiment statistics;
data necessary for user and system administration.
Art. 20c Access rights
The following individuals may, in the course of their statutory duties, process personal data, including sensitive personal data, and access them online:28
employees of the FSVO who perform tasks relating to oversight;
employees of the cantonal authorisation authorities within their areas of responsibility;
members of the cantonal committees on animal experiments within their areas of responsibility;
employees of the institutes, laboratories and experimental animal housing, breeding and trading facilities within their areas of responsibility.
Employees of the cantonal authorisation authorities and members of the cantonal committees on animal experiments may, in the course of their statutory duties, inspect data relating to authorisation requests and decisions from other cantons using the call procedure.
Art. 20d Fees
The federal government levies fees on the cantons for using the information system. The fees are set by the Federal Council.
Art. 20e Supplementary regulations
The Federal Council regulates:
cooperation with the cantons;
the data catalogue;
responsibilities for data processing;
access rights, specifically the scope of access granted in the call procedure;
the organisational and technical measures necessary to ensure data protection and data security, specifically the conditions under which access can be granted;
archiving;
retention and deletion periods.
Section 7 Slaughter of Animals
Art. 21
Mammals may not be slaughtered unless they have been stunned before the start of exsanguination.
The Federal Council may also stipulate that other animals must be stunned before they are slaughtered.
The Federal Council shall specify the permitted methods of stunning.
After consultation with the industry organisations, the Federal Council shall also regulate the requirements with regard to the continuing education and training of slaughterhouse personnel.
Chapter 3 Research
Art. 22
The federal government shall carry out and support scientific research of relevance to animal welfare.
In collaboration with universities and industry, the federal government shall in particular promote the development, accreditation and application of methods that replace animal experiments, enable fewer animals to be used or result in less strain for the animals. In particular, it shall promote research projects aimed at eliminating pain, suffering or anxiety in interventions in terms of Article 16.
Chapter 4 Administrative and Public Authority Appeals
Art. 23 Ban on the keeping of animals
The competent authorities may ban from housing, breeding, trading in or working professionally with animals, for a specified or unspecified period, persons who:
have been convicted of repeated or serious contraventions of the provisions set out in this Act and its implementing decrees or of rulings;
who are incapable of housing or breeding animals for other reasons.
If such a ban is imposed by one canton, it applies throughout Switzerland.
The FSVO shall keep a list of the bans that have been imposed. It may be consulted by the cantonal authorities in accordance with Article 33 to enable them to fulfil their statutory duties.29
The Federal Council may conclude international treaties relating to the reciprocal exchange of information on bans that have been imposed. It may provide for bans imposed abroad to be applicable in Switzerland.30
Art. 24 Regulatory intervention
If it is found that animals are being neglected or housed under completely unsuitable conditions, the competent authorities must intervene immediately. They may confiscate the animals as a precautionary measure and house them in a suitable place at the expense of the animal keeper; if necessary, they shall arrange for the animals to be sold or euthanised. In doing so, they may enlist the assistance of police authorities.
The proceeds of the sale of the animals shall be given to the animal keeper after the costs of the procedure have been deducted.
If criminal offences under this Act come to light, the authorities responsible for enforcement must report the offence.31
In minor cases, the authorities responsible for enforcement may decide not to report the offence.32
Art. 2533 Public authority appeal
The FSVO may lodge a formal appeal under cantonal and federal law against rulings issued by cantonal authorities with regard to animal experiments.
The cantonal authorities must immediately inform the FSVO of their decisions.
Chapter 5 Criminal Provisions
Art. 26 Mistreatment of animals
A custodial sentence not exceeding three years or a monetary penalty shall be imposed on any person who wilfully:34
mistreats, neglects or unnecessarily overworks an animal or abuses its dignity in any other way;
kills an animal in a manner that causes suffering;
organises fights between or with animals in which animals are tormented or killed;
inflicts pain, suffering or harm on, or induces anxiety in an animal during the course of experiments, unless this is unavoidable for the purpose of the experiment;
releases or abandons an animal that is kept in the house or on the farm with the intention of ridding themselves of it.
If the offender has acted through negligence, he or she is liable to a monetary penalty not exceeding 180 daily penalty units.35
Art. 2736 Offences relating to trade with animals and animal products
...37
Any person who, when trading in animals and animal products, wilfully disregards conditions, restrictions or bans under Article 14 shall be liable to a fine of up to CHF 20,000. Attempts, complicity and incitement are also offences. If the offender has acted through negligence, he or she is liable to a fine.
Art. 28 Other offences
Any person who wilfully does any of the following is liable to a fine of up to CHF 20,000 unless Article 26 is applicable:38
disregards the regulations on housing animals;
violates the regulations on breeding or producing animals;
violates the regulations on producing, breeding, housing, trading in or using genetically modified animals;
violates the regulations on the transport of animals;
violates the regulations on interventions involving animals or animal experiments;
violates the regulations on the slaughter of animals;
performs other acts on animals that are forbidden by this Act or the Ordinance;
39trades in animals in contravention of the regulations;
40uses living animals for advertising in contravention of the regulations.
Attempts, complicity and incitement are also offences. If the offender has acted through negligence, he or she is liable to a fine.41
Any person who, wilfully or through negligence, violates an implementation provision, contravention of which has been deemed to be an offence, or a ruling of which he or she has been notified that carries the sanctions provided for in this Article is liable to a fine.42
Art. 29 Statute of limitations
The statute of limitations is five years for the prosecution of contraventions and four years for the penalties for contraventions.
Art. 30 Legal entities and partnerships
Article 6 of the Federal Act of 22 March 197443 on Administrative Criminal Law applies.
Art. 3144 Prosecution
The prosecution and adjudication of offences is a matter for the cantons.
The FSVO shall investigate and judge contraventions as defined in Article 27 paragraph 2 that come to light in the context of the import, transit or export of animals and animal products at the authorised border inspection points. If, at the same time, there has been a contravention of the Customs Act of 18 March 200545 or the Value Added Tax Act of 12 June 200946, the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) shall investigate and judge the contraventions.47
If, in the import, transit or export of animals and animal products outside of the authorised border inspection points, there is at the same time a contravention of the Customs Act of 18 March 2005 or the Value Added Tax Act of 12 June 2009, the FOCBS shall investigate and judge the contraventions.48
If any contravention as defined in paragraph 1, 2 or 3 simultaneously constitutes a contravention to be prosecuted by the same federal authority under the Federal Act of 16 March 201249 on Trade in Protected Animal and Plant Species, the Customs Act of 18 March 2005, the Value Added Tax Act of 12 June 2009, the Foodstuffs Act of 20 June 201450, the Epizootic Diseases Act of 1 July 196651, the Hunting Act of 20 June 198652 or the Federal Act of 21 June 199153 on Fishing, then the penalty for the most serious contravention applies; it may be increased commensurately.54
Chapter 6 Final Provisions
Section 1 Enforcement
Art. 32 Enforcement by the federal government and cantons
The Federal Council shall issue enforcement regulations. It may authorise the FSVO to issue implementing regulations of a technical nature.55
Enforcement is the responsibility of the cantons unless the law stipulates otherwise. They may regionalise enforcement.
The Federal Council may require the cantons to inform the federal government of enforcement measures and the outcome of inspections and investigations.56
The Federal Council shall determine the extent to which animal housing facilities must be inspected and how the conduct of animal experiments must be monitored. The inspection of animal housing units and corresponding data gathering must be coordinated with the inspections that are required under the legislation on agriculture, epizootic diseases and foodstuffs.
The Federal Council regulates the continuing education and training of persons who perform tasks connected with the enforcement of this Act.57
Implementation of the authorisation procedure under Article 7 paragraph 2 and the monitoring of the import, transit and export of animals and animal products at the authorised border inspection points are the responsibility of the federal government.58
Art. 32a59 International cooperation
The Federal Council may conclude international treaties relating to training, the performance of inspections and the exchange of information relating to animal welfare.
Art. 32b60 Opposition
Decisions made by the FSVO may be contested by filing opposition.
The suspensive effect of opposition may be revoked.
Opposition must be filed within 10 days of notification of the decision.
Art. 33 Cantonal technical office
Each canton must set up a technical office for which the cantonal veterinary officer is responsible and which is suitable for ensuring that this Act and the regulations issued on the basis hereof are enforced.
Art. 34 Cantonal Committee on Animal Experiments
Each canton shall appoint a committee of experts for animal experiments which is independent of the authorisation authority and in which the animal welfare organisations are appropriately represented. Two or more cantons may appoint a joint committee.
The committee reviews applications and makes a submission to the authorisation authority. It shall be consulted on the inspection of laboratory animal facilities and the conduct of experiments. The cantons may entrust further duties to the committee.
Art. 35 Federal Committee on Animal Experiments
The Federal Council shall appoint a committee of experts for animal experiments. It shall advise the FSVO and make itself available to the cantons for questions of a fundamental nature and controversial cases.61
The Federal Committee on Animal Experiments shall cooperate with the Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology.
Art. 35a62 Examination boards
The Federal Council may appoint examination boards to carry out examinations of persons who perform tasks connected with the enforcement of this Act.
The examination boards publish the results of examinations in the form of a decision.
The Federal Council may delegate the performance of examinations to the cantons.
Art. 36 Animal experiment statistics
The FSVO shall publish annual statistics on all animal experiments conducted in Switzerland.63 It shall inform the public about issues concerning animal experiments and genetic modifications in animals.
Art. 37 Agreement on objectives
The Federal Council may conclude agreements with the cantons on objectives for the enforcement of parts of this Act.
Art. 38 Co-determination of organisations and companies
The federal government and cantons may consult organisations and companies on enforcement of the Act or may establish organisations suitable for this purpose.
They supervise the co-determination of these organisations and companies. The duties and authority assigned to them must be defined in a mission statement by the competent authority. They must provide this authority with details of their business management and accounting. The parliamentary control of federal and cantonal government remains unaffected by this provision.
The Federal Council and the cantons may authorise the instructed organisations and companies to charge fees for their services.
Art. 39 Right of access
The authorities instructed to enforce this Act shall have access to premises, facilities, vehicles, objects and animals; in doing so, they act as an agency of the police.
Art. 40 Supervision by the federal government
Enforcement of this Act by the cantons is supervised on behalf of the federal government by the Federal Department of Home Affairs.64
Art. 41 Fees
Unless it stipulates otherwise, this Act is enforced free of charge.
The cantons are authorised to levy fees for:
authorisations and official decisions;
inspections which have resulted in complaints;
special services that require more than the normal amount of work.
The Federal Council shall define the limits for cantonal fees.
Art. 42 Cantonal regulations
If this Act requires supplementation by cantonal law for the purposes of implementation, the cantons are obliged to draw up the relevant regulations.
The cantons shall notify the Federal Department of Home Affairs of the implementing regulations.
Section 2 Repeal of Existing Law and Transitional Provisions
Art. 43 Repeal of existing law
The Animal Welfare Act of 9 March 197865 is repealed.
Art. 44 Transitional provision to Article 16
The surgical castration of piglets without anaesthetic is forbidden as from 1 January 2009. If no practical alternative method is available by this date, the Federal Council may postpone the date on which this ban comes into force by up to two years.
Art. 45 Transitional provision with regard to rights of appeal
Until the commencement of the Administrative Court Act of 17 June 200566, rights of appeal are regulated, in addition to the general provisions on the administration of federal justice, as follows: the Appeals Commission of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs shall assess appeals against decisions of the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office.
Art. 45a67 Coordination provision
Irrespective of whether the Federal Act of 16 March 201268 on the Trade in Protected Animal and Plant Species (FA-CITES) or the amendment of 15 June 2012 to the AniPA comes into force first, Articles 27 paragraph 1, 31 and 32 paragraph 5 AniPA shall be amended as follows on the commencement of the Act that comes into force later or if both come into force at the same time:
...69
Section 3 Referendum and Commencement
Art. 46
This Act is subject to an optional referendum.
It will not be published in the Federal Gazette until the popular initiative «For modern animal welfare (Say yes to animal welfare!)» has been withdrawn or rejected70.
The Federal Council shall determine the commencement date.
Commencement date: 1 September 200871