Tonight, ZDF will address the topic of animal testing in the documentary “Top Secret: Animal Testing—Behind Closed Doors.” The German Animal Welfare Federation is using the broadcast as an opportunity to call for a fundamental shift in research and policy. The long-term goal, the Federation says, must be a complete phase-out of animal testing and a transition to science that does not rely on animal testing. In the association’s view, this requires targeted funding and a political strategy.
“What happens behind closed laboratory doors is unimaginable for many people. However, what is needed is not only transparency but, above all, a clear political course toward a science that does not rely on animal testing,” says Thomas Schröder, president of the German Animal Welfare Federation. “Animal testing must not be accepted as the norm simply because there are no alternatives. Policymakers must accelerate the transition to animal-free methods. At the same time, we must prevent any setbacks in the protection of laboratory animals.”
In the view of the German Animal Welfare Federation, animal-free methods must be funded as a top priority in order to advance scientific and technical progress and accelerate their implementation in practice. The association has compiled the wide range of “alternative methods” to animal testing already available in its “Guide to Animal-Free Science.” “Animal-free methods make it possible to investigate specific research questions directly with humans in mind, without taking the detour of using another species,” explains Kristina Wagner, head of the Department for Animal-Free Science at the German Animal Welfare Federation.
The German Animal Welfare Federation is also currently watching with concern the federal government’s plans to remove the regulations on animal testing from the Animal Welfare Act and consolidate them into a separate Animal Testing Act. “An Animal Testing Act threatens to strip away even the last legal protections for animals in experiments that are enshrined in the Animal Welfare Act, such as the ban on killing for economic reasons,” said Wagner. Over 80,000 people have already clearly opposed the plans in a petition to the Bundestag.
The documentary “Top Secret: Animal Testing – Behind Closed Doors” will air on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at 10:15 p.m. on ZDF and will subsequently be available on the streaming portal.
Note to Editors
In connection with the ZDF documentary “Top Secret: Animal Testing,” the German Animal Welfare Federation is offering interviews and background discussions with the association’s experts - for example, on the legal framework and scientific evaluation of animal testing and animal-free research methods, on current developments in animal testing in Germany, and on political plans for a standalone animal testing law.
