Swiss reject animal lawyer plan

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3818457.ece

From The Times Online
April 26, 2008
New Swiss law protects rights of 'social' animals

PHOTO: The new rules stipulate that fish tanks should not be transparent on all sides and that owners must make sure that the natural cycle of day and night is maintained in terms of light

Bojan Pancevski
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It is a world in which the goldfish are never lonely, the dogs are always obedient and the guinea-pigs are never tormented by children.

Under a new Swiss law enshrining rights for animals, dog owners will require a qualification, anglers will take lessons in compassion and horses will go only in twos.

From guinea-pigs to budgerigars, any animal classified as a “social species” will be a victim of abuse if it does not cohabit, or at least have contact, with others of its own kind.

The new regulation stipulates that aquariums for pet fish should not be transparent on all sides and that owners must make sure that the natural cycle of day and night is maintained in terms of light. Goldfish are considered social animals, or Gruppentiere in German.

The creator of this animal Utopia is the Swiss federal parliament, the Bundesrat, which adopted a law this week extending to four legs the kind of rights usually reserved for two. The law, which comes into force from September 1, is particularly strict over dogs: prospective owners will have to pay for and complete a two-part course — a theory section on the needs and wishes of the animal, and a practice section, where students will be instructed in how to walk their dog and react to various situations that might arise during the process. The details of the courses are yet to be fixed, but they are likely to comprise about five theory lessons and at least five sessions “in the field”.

The law extends to unlikely regions of the animal kingdom.

Anglers will also be required to complete a course on catching fish humanely, with the Government citing studies indicating that fish can suffer too.

The regulations will affect farmers, who will no longer be allowed to tether horses, sheep and goats, nor keep pigs and cows in areas with hard floors.

The legislation even mentions the appropriate keeping of rhinoceroses, although it was not clear immediately how many, if any, were being kept as pets in Switzerland.

Animal protection groups have greeted the news enthusiastically, but critics say that it means an extra financial burden on taxpayers and animal owners, and that it will be impossible to monitor the implementation of the rules. Farmers’ associations have protested, arguing that the law will have a negative effect on the economy and decrease their competitiveness on the international market.

One tabloid newspaper has accused the Government of pandering to the needs of guinea-pigs while ignoring more important animal issues, such as its failure to enforce a ban on dangerous dogs.

But Hans Wyss, head of the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, said: “The aim is not only to ensure treatment of animals appropriate to each species, but also to decrease the risk of attacks by dangerous dogs. Inappropriate treatment could lead to behavioural disorders.”

Doris Leuthard, the Economics Minister, assured pet owners that the authorities would not be visiting people’s homes to enforce the law — although in extreme cases officials would have the power to intervene — but would count on the results of the training and a positive response from an “informed population”.

“We do not want to create a surveillance state,” Mrs Leuthard said. She added that, in an age of consumer concern for animal welfare, farmers would benefit from the new law.

The attitude of the Government is in sharp contrast to some alleged practices in Switzerland: activists campaigning for a ban of the production and trade in cat fur products claim that tens of thousands of cats are killed each year to satisfy a growing domestic and foreign market fuelled by the belief that cat fur can alleviate the pain of rheumatism.

The cats are skinned by specialised tanneries for various products, ranging from £30 for a single fur to £200 for a cardigan and more than £800 for a large blanket — which might explain the total absence of stray cats in the country. There have also been reports coming from France about cats disappearing from areas along the Swiss border.

Should pet owners require advance guidance as to what will be expected of them, a goverment website provides it. One entry reads: “Guinea-pigs are very sensitive social animals. They are interesting to look at, but not at all appropriate to be cuddled or carried around by children.”

And a word of warning for those planning a mercy killing for their goldfish: special chemicals will be required “to put them to death”.

Flushing them down the loo is no longer an option.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0308/Are-public-advocates-for-an...

Are public advocates for animal rights needed? Switzerland says no.

A Switzerland referendum that sought to create a national cadre of public advocates for the enforcement of animal rights laws was soundly rejected by Swiss voters over the weekend.

Dan Murphy Staff writer / March 8, 2010 / The Christian Science Monitor
Boston

Animal rights crusader Antoine Goetschel is as close as you'll get to a real-life Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.

The Swiss lawyer has been working for greater animal protection laws in his home country since at least the mid-1980s and is the third official animal rights lawyer in the Canton of Zurich since 1992, when the canton – roughly equivalent to a US state – established the office.

But on Sunday he received a crushing defeat. After months of campaigning in the local press for support for a referendum that would have required the creation of similar public legal offices for animal rights in each of Switzerland's 26 cantons, voters roundly rejected the proposal with 70.5 percent of Swiss voting no.

The reason there was so much opposition could be the result of a fish tale. No, not about one that got away. But about a mammoth 22-pound pike that Swiss angler Patrick Giger landed in February 2009. Though the key witness for the prosecution was unavailable (the pike was consumed by Mr. Giger and friends the day it was caught), the Zurich prosecutor asked Mr. Goetschel to look into the matter after Giger described a tough 10-minute struggle to land the fish in a local newspaper and a Swiss animal rights group complained of animal cruelty.

Goetschel recommended a prosecution on the charge that Giger had caused undue cruelty to the fish, and expanded on his reasoning in an interview with The Guardian newspaper last week.

"It was uncomfortable in the court as I had 40 fishermen against me," he told the paper. "But I ask you this: if we put a hook in the mouth of a puppy and did the same thing for 10 minutes, what would our reaction be? With farm animals there is a strict, legally enforceable time limit between capture and death, so why not with fishing?"

The pike case received widespread ridicule in Switzerland.

Goetschel doesn't prosecute alleged crimes of animal rights abuse or even recommend cases. Instead, his job is to work with local judges to ensure they fully understand local animal rights losses when cases are brought. He also recommends fines.

It's not the first time Goetschel has tangled with a fish case and lost. In 2008, he helped prosecute the producers of a game show that challenged contestants to catch guppies by hand from a small pool.

"If you treat fish like objects in a computer game, their dignity is hurt," Mr. Goetschel said of that case, according to The Wall Street Journal. The case was dismissed.

To be sure, the Swiss are in the vanguard when it comes to protecting animals from cruelty.

According to a translation of the Swiss Animal Protection Ordinance of 1981 hosted at the website of the Animal Legal and Historical Center, "primates, cats and dogs, with the exception of unsociable animals, must be kept together with members of the same species." An update of that law in 2008 got even tougher -- demanding that fishermen get sensitivity training, dog owners receive state qualification to receive a license to own a dog, horses be kept in close proximity to other horses, and that any animal considered social – including goldfish – must be kept with at least one other of its kind.

PHOTO: Animal rights: Dogs look through a fence at an animal home in Kloten, Switzerland. Swiss voters roundly rejected a proposal that would appoint special lawyers for animals that have been abused by humans.

Gaetan Bally/Keystone/AP/File

From the BBC...

Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to introduce a nationwide system of state-funded lawyers to represent animals in court.

Animal rights groups had proposed the move, saying that without lawyers to argue the animals' case, many instances of cruelty were going unpunished.

But the measure was rejected by around 70% of voters in a referendum.

Opponents had argued that Switzerland did not need more legislation. The government had opposed the idea.

Voters were almost certainly swayed by worries about how much such a system might cost taxpayers, and by objections from Switzerland's farmers already struggling with reduced subsidies and falling milk prices.

Switzerland already has some of the strictest animal welfare legislation in the world.

Pigs, budgies, goldfish and other social animals cannot be kept alone; horses and cows must have regular exercise outside in summer and winter; and dog owners have to take training courses to learn how to care for their pets.

http://slog.thestranger.com/files/2007/09/budgies.jpg

A more complete story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8554012.stm