“Anglers and farmers are against us,” she said. “But the Swiss Kennel Club is supporting us, as are most of the newspapers.”
The intention of animal advocates, she said, was simply to better enforce the 2008 animal welfare act. She was pleased with the new guarantees of protection — “If I was a chicken I’d want to live in Switzerland” — but thought they could have gone even further in places.
“There is a problem with species-ism in the act. It encourages what is in effect racism against certain species. That’s my problem with it all,” she said.
When viewed against the protection animals get in other countries, however, she said she was proud that Switzerland was the world leader in animal protection.
“When I came to London recently I was shocked to see puppies and kittens for sale in Harrods,” she said. “They even had plastic hamster balls which you can put on the floor and watch the hamster running inside as the ball rolls around. If I’d seen this in Switzerland, I would have gone to the police.”
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