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German animal testing laboratory shut down over cruelty claims may be allowed to reopen
A German laboratory that closed due to its animal testing practices may reopen after a court battle.
The Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT) in Hamburg-Neugraben was closed in February after animal rights activists discovered that dogs and monkeys were mistreated during experiments.
After the discovery was made public thousands of protesters took to the streets of Hamburg to demonstrate against animal testing.
However, the laboratory may be able to reopen at the end of August, subject to personnel changes and proof that the animals are no longer being mistreated.
Animal rights activist Friedrich Mülln told German radio station NDR 90.3 that the ruling was a "scandal".
"It is a scandal that Hamburg is apparently being appeased by cheap personnel damage from the LPT and not even waiting for the criminal proceedings, in particular because of allegedly falsified animal studies for over a decade," he said.
"This shows that in red-green (SPD/Green party) Hamburg, profit from outdated animal experiments takes precedence over the protection of people and animals."
Meanwhile the ruling Green Party has announced a federal council initiative to campaign for more animal welfare at the federal level.
"Improvements in the protection of laboratory animals are urgently needed and long overdue," Hamburg's Justice and Consumer Protection Senator Anna Gallina said.
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