Animal testing to be banned in Hungary?

Biggest opposition party Jobbik submitted a draft resolution which aims to ban animal testing from 2022 on – hvg.hu writes.

Current regulation is not deterrent enough

Lajos Kepli, MP of the party stresses in the draft that it is an international trend to ban drug tests on animals. According to their draft resolution, Jobbik would ban animal testing already by 2020 in the case of domestic animals. He highlighted that there is

no scientific evidence behind the efficiency of animal testing.

Furthermore, a multitude of new technical devices have been introduced recently, and, though these are more expensive, they do not harm the animals.

This was not the first time Jobbik made a stand for animal rights. Over the past years, Jobbik has repeatedly called attention to the depressing situation in the area of animal protection. For example, former MP Zsolt Egyed submitted a bill before the 2018 parliamentary elections which aimed to increase the severity of punishments regarding the treatment of animals – reported civishir.hu, a news portal in Debrecen. However, the government denied even to open a parliamentary debate about the bill and killed it in the committee phase.

Prison sentences for animal torturers

Egyed’s motion would have changed the regulations in three key points:

– 5-10 years prison sentences served for animal torturers,

– prison sentences served for veterinarians practising without a diploma,

– and closing all bone-yards.

According to the Jobbik, today’s laws have no deterrent effect at all. It is a grave criticism of the current regulation that the perpetrators of even the most brutal animal torture cases may only be sentenced to a maximum of 3 years in prison based on the current Criminal Code. Practically speaking, most animal abusers and animal killers receive suspended custodial sentences. Even the most brutal animal killer spends no more than a few months in prison. This is why many NGOs and experts also urge stricter provisions for animal torturers and abusers.

European civil organisations committed for animal protection collected 1 million 126 thousand signatures in 2013 to ban animal testing – reported borsonline.hu. In fact, only in Hungary,

hundreds of thousands of animals are killed because of the medicines and other chemicals tested on them.

Interestingly, it is forbidden to experiment on hominoids and primates can be used for such purposes only if the expected scientific benefit is worth.

Source: civishir.hu, borsonline.hu, hvg.hu