Animal Welfare Act (AniWA) (AniWA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 Animal Husbandry
Art. 6 General provisions
1 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. 2 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. 3 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.
Para. 3 — Amended by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
Art. 7 Reporting and authorisation requirements, bans
1 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. 2 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. 3 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). 4 The Federal Council may require the placing on the market and the use of pain-inducing aids and equipment for t
Art. 7 — Amended by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055). Para. 1 — Amended by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055). Para. 3 — Second sentence inserted by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055). Para. 4 — Inserted by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
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
1 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. 2 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.
Para. 2 — Second sentence amended by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
Art. 11 Authorisation requirement for genetically modified animals
1 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 2003. 2 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. 3 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 pa
Para. 1 — SR 814.91
Art. 12 Reporting requirement
1 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. 2 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. 3 The Federal Council regulates the details of the report.
Section 3 Trade in Animals and Animal Products
Amended by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
Art. 13 Authorisation and reporting requirement
1 Authorisation is required for commercial trading in animals and the use of live animals for advertising purposes. 2 The Federal Council may require supra-regional events involving animals to be reported or authorised.
Art. 13 — Amended by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
Art. 14 Conditions, restrictions and bans
1 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. 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. 2 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.
Art. 14 — Amended by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055). Para. 1 — Amended by Annex 1 No 2 of the FA of 16 March 2012 on Trade in Protected Animal and Plant Species, in force since 1 Oct. 2013 (AS 2013 3095; BBl 2011 6985). Para. 2 — Amended by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
Section 4 Animal Transport
Art. 15 Principles
1 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. 2 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. 15 — Inserted by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
Art. 15a International animal transport
1 Any person who performs international animal transport on a commercial basis shall require authorisation. 2 The Federal Council may stipulate which international standards must be observed for international animal transport. 3 Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses for slaughter and poultry for slaughter may only pass through Switzerland by rail or air.
Art. 15a — Inserted by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
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
1 Any person who wishes to conduct animal experiments requires authorisation from the responsible cantonal authorities. 2 Activities as defined in the last sentence of Article 11 paragraph 1 are equivalent to animal experiments within the scope of the authorisation procedure. 3 The competent cantonal authority shall submit requests for authorisation for animal experiments to the cantonal committee on animal experiments in accordance with Article 17. 4 Authorisation is issued for a limited period. They may be subject to conditions and requirements. 5 Institutes and laboratories which conduct animal experiments and facilities that house laboratory animals must keep records of the animals housed.
Art. 19 Requirements
1 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. 2 The Federal Council defines the criteria for assessing indispensability under Article 17. 3 It may declare certain experimental purposes to be impermissible. 4 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
1 Pain, suffering or harm may be inflicted on, or anxiety induced in, animals only if this is unavoidable for the purpose of the experiment. 2 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. 3 The Federal Council shall regulate the further requirements governing the conduct of experiments.
Art. 20a Providing information to the public
1 After an animal experiment has been concluded, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) shall publish the following information: a. The title and field of the animal experiment; b. The purpose of the experiment; c. The number of animals used per species; d. The degree of severity of the constraint imposed on the animals. 2 The Federal Council may provide for further information to be published as long as there are no legitimate overriding private or public interests. 3 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.
Art. 20a — Inserted by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 May 2014 (AS 2012 6279, 2013 3707; BBl 2011 7055). Para. 1 — The name of the administrative unit was modified by applying Art. 16 para. 3 of the Publications Ordinance of 17 Nov. 2004 (AS 2004 4937) with effect from 1 Jan. 2014. The modification was implemented throughout the text.
Section 6a Animal Experiment Information System
Inserted by No I of the FA of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6279; BBl 2011 7055).
Art. 20b Purpose and content
1 The federal government operates an information system to support the statutory tasks of the federal government and the cantons relating to animal experiments. 2 The information system contains the following personal data: a. data concerning administrative and criminal prosecutions and sanctions; b. data concerning authorisations and the monitoring of animal experiments; c. data concerning authorisations and the monitoring of laboratory animal housing, breeding and trading facilities; d. data concerning notifications of lines and strains that have a significant clinical pathological phenotype; e. data concerning continuing education and training; f. data necessary for the publication of animal experiment statistics; g. data necessary for user and system administration.
Para. 2 let. e — Amended by Annex No 20 of the FA of 20 June 2014 on Continuing Education and Training, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 689; BBl 2013 3729).
Art. 20c Access rights
1 The following individuals may, in the course of their statutory duties, process personal data, including sensitive personal data, and access them online: a. employees of the FSVO who perform tasks relating to oversight; b. employees of the cantonal authorisation authorities within their areas of responsibility; c. members of the cantonal committees on animal experiments within their areas of responsibility; d. employees of the institutes, laboratories and experimental animal housing, breeding and trading facilities within their areas of responsibility. 2 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.
Para. 1 — Amended by Annex 1 No II 39 of the Data Protection Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).
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: a. cooperation with the cantons; b. the data catalogue; c. responsibilities for data processing; d. access rights, specifically the scope of access granted in the call procedure; e. the organisational and technical measures necessary to ensure data protection and data security, specifically the conditions under which access can be granted; f. archiving; g. retention and deletion periods.
Section 7 Slaughter of Animals
Art. 21
1 Mammals may not be slaughtered unless they have been stunned before the start of exsanguination. 2 The Federal Council may also stipulate that other animals must be stunned before they are slaughtered. 3 The Federal Council shall specify the permitted methods of stunning. 4 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.