Swiss voters will head to the polls on Sunday to decide whether they want their country to become the first in the world to completely ban animal testing - and experiments on humans too. Animal welfare campaigners collected enough signatures to trigger a popular vote on the issue for the fourth time in the country's history.

But while animal rights activists say such a ban is long overdue, opposition to the proposal is strong.

Why is there a referendum on this?

Animal testing is tightly regulated in Switzerland. Under a federal animal protection legislation approved in 2008, researchers wanting to experiment on animals need to demonstrate that there's no alternative method of research and that the suffering inflicted on the animals is outweighed by the benefits society will receive from it.

Scientists also need to make sure animals suffer the least possible amount of pain and stress.

But animal welfare activists argue that "animal experiments should be considered a crime," as Renato Werndli, a doctor among those who launched the initiative, told Reuters.

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"Animals should not suffer for the sake of humans, it's simple," he added. 

"Our opponents have said it (animal testing) is necessary for scientific reasons but we have spoken to the people who develop research methods and they have come to a completely different conclusion. 

"Animal experiments for scientific reasons are very questionable and lead to volatile results. Using animals as instruments is difficult because they have moods, emotions, and a psyche."

Who opposes the ban?

The government is telling people to vote against introducing the ban, and there's not a single member of parliament who supports it.

Also against the ban is the medical research community and the pharmaceutical sector, which has a great presence in Switzerland.

"Animal experimentation, among the various uses that humanity makes of other species, is both the most closely monitored and undoubtedly the most justified," Samia Hurst, a bioethicist at the University of Geneva, told AFP.

She argued that blocking all testing on living creatures, including humans, "would be like putting on the handbrake, a complete halt in fact, to many fields of research in our country."

"This research would then be sent afield, probably with less acute surveillance. It's by no means guaranteed that this is good news for the animals as it would put an end to this research, only in Switzerland," said Hurst.

Pharmaceutical leaders have already warned that in the case of a ban, the institutions and companies concerned would be forced to relocate their activities abroad - a huge loss for the country's economy.

When will we find out the result?

Switzerland's decision on the ban will be known after polls close by the end of the day on Sunday February 13.

In the previous three referendums on the same subject - in 1985, 1992 and 1993 - the majority of the population has always strongly opposed the ban.

The latest opinion polls suggest that the ban is unlikely to pass this time around too, with only 26 percent of Swiss voters in favor of introducing the ban.

But animal welfare campaigners say that, even if the ban doesn't pass this time, they'll bring it to a people's vote again.