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.
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Alright, I'm all for protecting animals, but this legislation crosses the boundary between reasonable and ridiculous.
Switzerland, I'm sure you're all good people, and I understand what you're trying to do, but do you really want to mandate that all potential dog owners fund and complete a dog-ownership training program? Maybe it will work for you, but I'm pretty sure that if we tried something like that in the US, we'd just have a lot more homeless dogs on our hands. We just wouldn't pay to take a class to prove our abilities as dog owners.
As for the rest of the law, well, I'm just too flabbergasted to say much more, and besides - it's not my country, so it's really not my business.
Hey reader, read this article for yourself and tell me what YOU think. 
-Kitty Mowmow
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Ridiculous is probably not the right word to describe some of the stuff in the law. If people were looked after this way in Switzerland, there would be a lot less lonely people. Next stop is lawyers for animals (there is a proposal in Swiss parliament). And they haven’t forgotten plants: a federal ethics committee has called for measures to protect the dignity of plants. As you can see some Swiss have a real sense of priorities!
So what happens if a member of one of those “social species” isn’t particularly social? I’ve kept guinea pigs for years and for the most part they do enjoy the company of other guinea pigs, but on occasion you do get an ornery one who just wants a cage to himself (it’s usually the males who do this). An angry guinea pig can do a surprising amount of damage to a cagemate. Are the owners of these particular animals supposed to keep animals in cages where they’ll just fight each other? I’m sorry, that seems far more cruel. I get that legislators- where ever they are- can’t be experts on everything, but it would be nice if a little logic was used.
Hi swissjourno,
I think one of my biggest problems with this kind of legislation is simply that it clashes with some of my personal philosophies. I think that most of these sorts of issues should be cared for by individuals and grass-roots social pressures, not law enforcement and government officials. However, not everyone or every society feels this way, and perhaps these laws will work well for the Swiss. Are you from Switzerland?
Hi Leela317,
You make an excellent point, and I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve had at least one cat that would probably be happier if there were no other cats in the universe except herself.
Also, there are a lot of animals that don’t mix well unless both are spayed and neutered (for example, two male rabbits would fight and a male and female would, erm, breed like rabbits). But what if someone doesn’t want to spay and neuter their pets? While I strongly support spaying and neutering, I still think it should be up to the individual discretion of the owner.
Animals are just like people in this case: they have individual preferences about how much and how often they require contact with other beings. We should be allowed to treat them like the unique individuals they are.
Interesting article….
I think it is very important to assure quality of life for most animals but especially dogs:
Dog owners can revel in the fact that research studies report a link between dog ownership and reduced stress and improved health for their human companions. There’s nothing like the loyalty and unconditional love of a dog to balance the fast-paced, high tech nature of life today. Whatever you have to deal with, when you come home and your dog rushes to greet you with his tail wagging, the troubles of the day melt away.
Good Dog Panda!!