The Story behind Switzerland’s Specific Pet Laws
My tan-and-white toy fox terrier, Ramona, posing for her portrait in a Houston park early in our seventeen years of life together.
My last pet before moving to Switzerland was a little terrier (of the toy fox variety) named Ramona. May the doggie afterlife have ample sunshine for basking and endless space to run and run.
Ramona would have loved Switzerland, though I’d have had to learn a lot faster than I did about Swiss pet laws if she’d lived long enough to make the move.
Because shortly before and after we moved, I kept hearing about Switzerland’s set of highly specific and relatively unusual rules and regulations when it comes to keeping pets. I didn’t do my research on the topic, though, until after a Swiss friend of mine told me he had to find a new home for their pet bunny. When I asked him why, he told me that its companion rabbit had died a natural death and that, as a family, they had decided not to get another rabbit for the hutch. The decision not to adopt a bunny companion meant they had only a certain amount of time to find a new home for the remaining rabbit to comply with Swiss law.
Say what? I had to investigate.
Sure, my friend is Swiss, he knows his country, but surely his story about how rabbits are designated as “social animals” and must always be kept with at least one more of their kind was exaggerated? Surely this was story he and his wife told their son to get him to accept finding a new home for the rabbit they still had?
Investigation taught me that a lot of the rumors about Swiss pet laws are exaggerations—but that they do have roots in some measure of truth.
Why is Switzerland So Strict with Pets?
From having moved internationally more than once in my time, I can say that every country has its own laws about companion animals—and animals in general.
The Swiss laws around pets, though, are unlike anything I have yet encountered.
I tried to grasp where this came from and can’t say with absolute certainty based on what I could find. What I could uncover indicates that Europe caught fire over animal rights—something long debated in the region, going all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome—in the 1800s.
England enacted the first laws against animal cruelty, followed quickly by Germany and then Switzerland. Other countries followed suit. Throughout Europe, laws around animals kept for agriculture, livestock, and companions have continued to evolve over the years.
In 1992, Switzerland became the first country to amend its constitution to include animal protections. To date, only Germany has since gone that far.
So perhaps getting down into the nitty gritty when it comes to pets, as Switzerland has, simply cascades from the overarching animal welfare and animal rights trends. Makes sense to me that it would, though it’d be interesting to dig up exactly where the Swiss level of specificity on the subject got started.
A Few Odd Swiss Pet and Pet Owner Rules
When I say “specificity,” what do I mean?
Well, a few examples should help illustrate my point:
Dog owners no longer must attend ownership classes before bringing home a pup—this law changed in 2016—but they do pay an annual dog-ownership tax to their canton (a canton is the equivalent to a state or a county, in U.S. terms). The taxed amount depends on the canton.
You cannot have only one of a species designated “social.” In other words, you cannot keep a single canary or (as in my friend’s case) bunny—you must have more than one. The rule for how many of a given species you need changes by the species, based on laws that have assessed each type of animal’s social needs.
If the Swiss government has decided that a species of pet requires specialized training to own, you will need official, governmental approval and often formal permits for ownership. Animals in this group include ferrets, parrots, and some breeds of dog.
Only under the direction and the observation of a specialist providing exact instructions on how to kill it instantaneously can you kill your pet fish. Only after the fish-euthanasia specialist has confirmed that the fish has died can you dispose of the body.
Want to dig deeper? The Swiss have an entire website with all the details to help pet owners stay in compliance.
Do Your Pet Research to Stay in Swiss Compliance
I’ve loved all the pets I’ve had in my lifetime, but I don’t have any today and I don’t plan to adopt any pets anytime soon, if ever. I can’t imagine anytime soon having the lifestyle or living situation to suit making an animal companion happy—so I’ll just enjoy everyone else’s pets.
At least I do know now, if ever I do consider changing my mind while living in Switzerland, that I had better do a solid amount of additional research into what’s required by law before I decide.