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There is no better place than Switzerland to be a chicken. Or a hamster. Or even — though the jury is still out on this — a goldfish. The reason is that the country has an extraordinary set of animal protection laws that closely define the obligations of pet owners and farmers. Now it is about to go a step farther: a national referendum Sunday will decide whether to allow animals official legal representation. The canton of Zurich already has an animal advocate, Antoine Goetschel, a kind of courtroom Dr. Dolittle who, for the past two years, has been fighting the corner for flogged horses, depressed Dalmatians and tortured fish. A “yes” vote will place publicly funded animal welfare lawyers, like Goetschel, across the country. The tricky issues facing these new Rumpoles of the barnyard came to a head two weeks ago in one of Goetschel’s most toughly fought cases. An angler on Lake Zurich landed a 10-kilogram perch after, as he subsequently bragged to a paper, a 10minute fight. Zurich citizens complained and the state prosecutor passed the case to Goetschel, who had to determine how long an angler can struggle to land a fish before it becomes an act of cruelty. Fish-rights supporters opened a Facebook page for the dead perch — 6,000 “ friends” made it probably Europe’s most popular fish — while the anglers argued fiercely that the f ish felt no pain. Goetschel did not win the case. “ This is going to become like Orwell’s Animal Farm,” one opponent said. “ These lawyers are going to be pleading ‘four legs good, two legs bad’.” Under current legislation people wanting to get rid of goldfish cannot simply flush them down a lavatory bowl alive. The f ish have to be knocked out, killed and properly disposed of. About 70 per cent of Swiss favour animal lawyers but the referendum will have to secure a majority of cantons, which may prove diff icult. Many small, rural cantons — under the sway of farmer lobbying — could vote against. If there is a “yes” vote, the next stage will be an attempt
to extend animal protection to invertebrates — worms, for example.
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