During the summer of 2019, Djurättsalliansen exposed that there were plans for a Swedish center for experimentation on larger animals, such as dogs, primates, cats, horses, goats, cows, pigs, and sheep. It was planned to be called SWECCLIM (Swedish Experimental Clinical  Center  for  Large-Animal  Innovative  Models).  The  Swedish  University  of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) would take on the role as coordinator of the center, together with Uppsala University (UU), the Swedish Veterinary Institute (SVA), Karolinska Institutet (KI), the  University  of  Gothenburg  (GU)/Sahlgrenska  University  Hospital  and  Linköping University (LiU).

Within SWECCLIM, there were plans to conduct up to 600 experiments on animals annually and to function, to a certain extent, as a “contract laboratory”, a set-up that allows different companies to rent a space in order to conduct animal testing. The SLU applied for almost 90 million Swedish crowns (SEK) from the Swedish Research Council (a council that provides government research funding), for the project.

Primates held at AFL, Stockholm, Sweden, Photo: KI

Djurättsalliansen mobilized the campaign “Stop SWECCLIM” in order to shed light on the issue, and create public opinion. The campaign managed to receive a lot of media attention. Djurrättsalliansen also initiated a protest list and received 47,481 signatures in just a matter of two months. The list was handed over to the Swedish Research Council thereafter.

Towards the end of September 2019, the Swedish Research Council rejected the application. It is currently unclear as to how the project will proceed, but there are plans to try to kick-start the project during 2021 under the name NILAR (National Infrastructure for Laboratory Animals Research). Djurättsalliansen will continue to monitor the situation and act on the issue.

It is possible to view clips from animal testing laboratories in the United States of America (with larger animals such as monkeys and dogs) below.