3. Table for Two?
The Swiss animal rights code is pretty strict, especially regarding social species. Forget about keeping just one guinea pig as a pet, if you’re going to have one of these sociable rodents in Switzerland, you must have two. Swiss law doesn’t allow owners to keep just one and, if you’re not sure where to find a partner for your furry friend, that’s made easy too. Say your guinea pig’s companion has died and you can’t bring yourself to get a new one, just call up Priska Küng, whose “rent-a-guinea pig” service pairs up grieving and lonely guinea pigs with ideal matches. You can find this animal lover and her multitude of pets in Hadlikon, a village not far from Zürich. By the way, it’s also illegal to flush a goldfish down the toilet in Switzerland, so if you need to dispose of your scaly friend, be discreet.
4. What Can I Help You With Mr. Fido?
While we’re talking of animal rights, don’t feel like your pet got his day in court? Want to speak out against animal abuse and for animal rights? Well look no further than Swiss lawyer Antoine François Goetschel, who focuses on animal rights law. This plucky lawyer’s not one to mess with and once prosecuted a fisherman who took too long to catch a pike. He was also a driving force in the March 2010 Swiss referendum, which would have led to animals being given legal representation in Swiss court cases. Though it was unsuccessful, this hasn’t stopped Goetschel, who continues to defend the rights of animals in cases where animal abuse is involved.
