Petition demands a halt to cocaine tests on monkeys
A petition demanding an immediate halt to tests on live monkeys at Fribourg University has been handed in to the Fribourg cantonal parliament.
The online petition was launched by the Swiss League Against Animal Testing LSCVExternal link and gathered 19,000 signatures in two weeks from citizens demanding an end to tests that involve giving cocaine to primates.
The initiative follows recent reports in Swiss media of experiments using live monkeys at two Swiss universities. According to the reports, primates at the University of Fribourg are given cocaine before being subjected to a neurosurgical process to try to cure their addiction.
+ Read more about animal testing in Switzerland
The University of Fribourg says the project has received all the necessary ethical, veterinary, and government authorisations.
But the LSCV is calling for an independent scientific expert report. It says it is willing to cover the costs provided the expert chosen is truly independent.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.