Hamburg’s Authority for Health and Consumer Protection has called for the German government to improve efforts to uphold EU laws governing animals in laboratories as it withdraws the animal holding license of the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT) headquarters in Neugraben.

Speaking to German media today, Hamburg's Senator for Health and Consumer Protection Cornelia Prüfer-Storcks said: "Based on knowledge gained through thorough examination in the past few weeks, we have withdrawn LPT’s animal husbandry license with immediate effect. For this to be legally secure, it was necessary to evaluate the files and information from the public prosecutor's office and from the Harburg district about LPT Mienenbüttel in Lower Saxony. Now animal-friendly accommodation for the animals must be ensured.

“We will also push for the responsible Federal Ministry to quickly adapt the rules applicable in Germany to stricter European law and to implement the EU Animal Welfare Directive.”

We are delighted that leaders in Hamburg are calling for Germany to properly implement EU laws governing animals in laboratories. The shocking treatment of animals exposed by our investigation with SOKO-Tierschutz at LTP highlights the need for an urgent review of cruel and unreliable animal research throughout Europe.

Last week we celebrated an announcement from the Hamburg Citizenship Health Committee that LPT’s Hamburg-based headquarters would not receive any new permits for animal experiments and that previous authorization for animal experiments would be withdrawn. The reliability of the company has been called into question by local authorities since our investigation with SOKO-Tierschutz revealed shocking levels of animal cruelty and breaches of EU and German law at its site in Mienenbüttel.

Help us stop the cruelty for good by telling Europe’s decision makers to review animal testing laws.