New Swiss law targets
owner responsibility
A RECENT report states that the Swiss government has introduced new rules on dog and cat ownership, operative from September 2008. Owners now must pass a practical test as well as a theory test before they are qualified to own a pet.
Initially pet owners have been given two years to take courses and prepare for the tests, but from 2010 it will be mandatory for owners and prospective owners to pass the tests or risk having their pet removed from their care. It seems that a panel of veterinarians and trainers will be given the task of setting the courses and tests and this is where the scheme may be let down. Nobody will question their good intention or their wish to do the best possible for pet dogs and cats, but are the trainers going to be modern ones? Or will they want everyone to be “pack leader”? What training methods will they be promoting? Will those methods suit every dog and every owner?
And will the vets be promoting the foods that are part of their nutrition training – usually chemical concoctions from the worldwide animal food consortiums that have sponsored their university courses – or will they also assist owners who really care, to put together a nutritionally rich variety of real food? These questions and many others may set the relevance for the whole scheme. Such were my first thoughts after reading the article. However, on reading further I do think that the government of Switzerland has the right idea.
Apparently the reformed law doesn’t only cover the treatment of dogs and cats. It extends to farm animals and the way they are treated. Horses and goats must be treated with respect to their natural habitat (tethering is not allowed) and the new feeling for the animal kingdom has tentacles that reach even further.
Anglers or professional fishers now must make sure they treat their catch humanely, and hunters must also not allow their catch to suffer. It was suggested that slugs and snails come under this category too, but after strong protest from gardeners the status quo was agreed upon for those two creatures. And now, Government sources are said to be debating how to treat plants with respect, especially regarding experimentation.
With the new laws including such a wide variety of animals I am confident that the owners of pet dogs will be encouraged if they decide to feed only natural foods to their pet, and the choice of training method will be left to the owners. The regional council for Geneva has reportedly recently introduced some Draconian new dog laws as a knee-jerk reaction to a vocal anti-dog lobby, but without the support of their Federal Government I can not see their individual rules amounting to much. The lobby tried to get the Federal Government to introduce bans on dogs over a certain height and specific breeds, but the Government’s answer was that the new laws controlling the care and treatment of dogs should prevent bad owners, therefore there will be no dog problems.
I do commend the intelligence of the Swiss Federal Government. They are obviously not scared to pin their dog problem directly to the cause – bad owners. They are to be congratulated as the first of a new breed! I hope many more countries follow their lead. PETA (People for the Ethical treatment of Animals) has already urged the UK Parliament to follow Switzerland’s example.
The world will be a much better place when all governments stop pussy-footing around trying to please vocal minorities and start using their undoubted intelligence. We all deserve a better deal, as do our dogs. – Liz Peters
