Ngoamlb,
This thread is a tad confusing as it evolved during the whole anti-dog movement 2006 and onwards. So - some of the info is out of date, some things we worried about did not come to pass, some of our worst nightmares came true.
In a nutshell:
Animal
welfare is regulated at the federal level; the Animal Welfare Law (referred to here often as the TSchV and TschG , the Tierschutzverordnung and Tierschutzgesetz) was revised in 2008. Under the umbrella of 'welfare' several dog control measures were added, most notably the mandatory theory classes for first time dog owners and mandatory training classes for all dog owners, the oversight of trainers who offer those classes, the education requirements and certification of dog care personnel and breeders. As these are federal requirements, they apply Switzerland-wide. Other federal requirements are mandatory chipping and registration in the ANIS database, and mandatory reporting of dog bites or incidents of aggression.
In the last round of politicking, parliament decided to leave dog
control to the competency of the individual cantons, as it had been handled in the past. That means that in addition to the federal law, there are 26 differing laws to which dog owners have to pay attention. Some cantons have introduced draconian BSL (ZH, VD) some are very laissez-faire (ZG) most are somewhere in between. So - as a dog owner you need to understand and comply with the laws of your canton of residence, and with any canton you visit.
In addition to the cantonal laws, you may find regulations at the Gemeinde level, and again you may come up against 'house rules' for the flat you live in.
Of course all this could change - there is still a push for a federal control law, but for now things are pretty quiet on that front.
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So - to give you a sensible answer, first we need to know in which canton you will be living. For a summary of the current laws, see the Tier Im Recht website:
http://www.tierimrecht.org/de/tiersc...echt/index.php
If you aren't comfortable with the German, let us know which canton and we can post a rough translation.