I'm not eligible to vote, so I'm watching from the sidelines...

A question about the Mindestumwandlungssazt: Will this affect Pillar 1 only? Or are Pillars 2 and 3 affected as well?

As to the Tieranwalt initiative - I am very much conflicted. My chief worry is that this is another proposal with good intentions, but little thought seems to have been given to practicalities, especially financing. How will this be paid for?

I live in a canton where there is little financing available for animal welfare - even the cantonal Tierheim has to rely on private financing and donations. The pot isn't going to magically get bigger. I worry that the creation of the Tieranwalt post - no lawyer works for free - would siphon scarce funding away from the important day to day work of caring for animals in need.

I can't see voters - at least SZ voters - approving a general tax hike. For instance, the recent dog control initiatives have been sold to the public as cost neutral, that is, the cost of enforcement will fall solely on owners via increased dogs taxes and fees. Would the Tieranwalt initiative mean higher costs to farmers, pet owners, etc?

I wish more specifics as to financing were included in the referendum.

On the other hand, animal abuse cases seem to be very difficult to prosecute - more needs to be done to address real abuse. (Note I say real abuse - which are not necessarily headline-grabbing cases.) But is that because of lack of resources (which a Tieranwalt would theoretically address), or is it because of lack of interest, or even conflict of interest? Something does need to be done to put a bit more spine in the enforcement of existing laws.

And on the third hand - there was the debacle of the ZH case brought against the fisherman - a huge black eye for the Tieranwalt. Was this the best use of resources?

As said, I am very conflicted about this initiative. Yes, more needs to be done to combat animal abuse - I question whether this would be an effective solution - or simply another layer of expensive bureaucracy. I just don't know.