07-03-2010 Swiss vote ‘no’ to appointing state-funded animal protection lawyers

Today the Swiss unfortunately voted ‘no’ in a referendum to appointing state-funded animal protection lawyers. ‘No’ was the official Government recommendation and the main reason behind the failure seems to be that the initiative might have cost too much money.

Switzerland has very strong animal protection legislation, including mandatory animal care courses for dog owners, a policy that Animals Count would like to introduce in the UK. It also had a world first in appointing a lawyer to speak on behalf of animals in the canton of Zurich. The only state-funded incumbent lawyer, Antoine Goetschel, has successfully won many animal cruelty cases for several years.

The opposition to the proposal, mainly from the farming industry and lobby, was strong, but in Basel-Stadt 44.3% of the voters said ‘yes’. In general, the northern cantons, Bern, Ticino (in the south) and Graubunden (southeast) voted more favourably than in other cantons.

The man behind the initiative, Hansueli Huber, regretted the outcome, but he said that the result meant saying no to appointing a lawyer, rather than no to animal protection. He added that even the opponents have admitted that current animal protection law enforcement is not good enough. Huber said that the Government should do something to improve the situation.

Although the initiative may not have been successful this time, at least the discussion about the protection of animals has received renewed attention, and Animals Count hopes that other initiatives, similarly aimed at improving the lot of animals, will be successful in Switzerland, and indeed in the rest of Europe.