Animal Protection Act.

The aim of this Act is to protect live, health and welfare of animals. This Act sets out rules for the proper treatment of animals, defines the meaning of cruelty to animals, establishes which treatment or experiments on animals are forbidden, sets out conditions to be ensured for animal husbandry, transport, implementation of certain activities and experiments on animals, slaughter and killing of animals. This Act regulates also the supervision of the implementation of this Act and criminal penalties for violators of these provisions. This Act applies to all animals with developed senses to receive external stimuli and developed nervous system. Animal protection under this Act is the duty of all legal and natural persons who are in any relation to animals, especially animal guardians, local communities and countries, veterinary, animal husbandry, scientific research and educational institutions, hunting and other organizations combining animal breeders, clubs against cruelty to animals and other societies which are established for the promotion and implementation of the Declaration on the rights and welfare. This Act establishes that no person may cause animal suffering, illness or death without a reasonable cause.
The Act further mandates the strict application of the "Three Rs" principle—Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement—as a legal prerequisite for any scientific or educational project. It stipulates that an animal procedure may only be authorized if no non-animal alternative is available, and it requires that the number of animals used be reduced to the absolute minimum necessary for statistical reliability. Furthermore, the Act demands the continuous refinement of breeding, housing, and experimental methods to minimize pain and distress, ensuring that animal welfare is prioritized throughout the animal's entire lifespan, from birth to the conclusion of the procedure.
To ensure high standards of implementation, the Act establishes rigorous criteria for the qualification and ongoing training of all personnel involved, including researchers, technicians, and animal caretakers. It introduces a mandatory system of ethical oversight through internal Animal Welfare Bodies and a national Ethics Committee, which must conduct a harm-benefit analysis for every project. This includes a retrospective assessment of high-severity procedures to evaluate whether the scientific goals were achieved and to ensure that the actual pain inflicted did not exceed the predicted levels, thereby increasing transparency and accountability in the use of animals for scientific purposes.