Photo credit: Joel Dietle (File)
Swiss cops face charges over injured cat

Published: 17 Jul 2012 11:31 GMT+1
Updated: 17 Jul 2012 09:55 GMT+1
Online: http://www.thelocal.ch/3775/20120717/
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An animal-loving Swiss prosecutor has astonished the police force by launching criminal proceedings against two officers who failed to look after an injured cat.

The police officers in question were called to a scene in Lenzburg where a car had hit a cat. Upon arrival they saw the injured creature hobbling off into the darkness, newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported.
The fact that there was also blood on the road, but yet they did nothing to take care of the cat, returning instead to their car and driving off, has left them vulnerable to prosecution for animal cruelty.
If found guilty, the policemen could face suspended jail sentences or fines of up to 20,000 francs ($20,480).
The public prosecutor, 45-year-old Christina Zumsteg, takes animal welfare issues very seriously. As soon as she was elected public prosecutor, she took action against a farmer in her home village for breaches of animal welfare against dogs, cats, sheep, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs and donkeys.
She has also passed a tough sentence on a woman suffering from depression who had starved chinchillas in her basement, and also came down hard on a farmer who had neglected a cow.
Max Hofmann, secretary general of the Swiss police officers’ association, believes the threat of criminal sanctions against the two police officers is over the top.
“This means that every driver or pedestrian who does not rush to help an injured animal could end up before the courts,” he told the newspaper.
Hofmann pointed to the “chronic understaffing” of the police forces, saying it just was not possible for the police to devote too much time to a missing kitty.







Do you think the cops were right/wrong to leave the cat?????

As an animal lover I would say they were wrong to just drive off. They could of at least called an animal rescue centre to check on the injured cat. Its not like Swiss police have anything better to do.

How could you even ask such a question? Seems like there's still some common sense left in the Swiss legal system.

Absolutely right! No way they should have left the poor thing.

Considering also that they'd be the first to arrest you if Joe public did that. I might be wrong but I thought you had to aid an injured animal here, animals rights were extended a while back

Says more about the two policemen than it does about the legal system. I'm not a cat person by any means but would do what I could to prevent one suffering, even if it was the minimum of a quick call to a vet or animal rescue centre.

The cops arrived at the scene of the crime, didn't find the cat and then left.

I'm OK with that.

Silly that this had to go to court.

Edit: Why wasn't the caller also charged with animal cruelty?

I say good for you Christina Zumsteg.
People should know that they can't neglect or mistreat an animal and get away with it, and what these policemen did was neglect.

I'm an animal lover, and don't currently have any policemen on my xmas card list, but I'm not sure this is at all fair on the rozzers. They arrived and the cat was hobbling off, presumably 1st priority is to assess the situation and take a statement from the driver, during which time the cat had gone. Police see no sign of dark cat at night and leave, so sad but hardly negligent, and I'd like to hear the full story before I start slinging the mud... but I have a bucket ready.

They should have at least made an attempt to check the immediate area unless they had an emergency to deal with, then passed it on to the local cat rescue who would have searched better and put adverts, etc, to allert the owner of the cat, and other people who might come across it + local vets. Doing nothing was reprehensible.

I agree but was going to reply with "there must have been some case to answer if it has resulted in court action" but then I read the article more closely and am stumped over this...

So the Local is reporting that they are "vulnerable" to prosecution then rattles off a few sentences about possible consequences and an animal loving public prosecutor. So there hasn't actually been any action taken?

What about the person who's responsible for the cat being in the road in the first place, the owner?

If you should prosecute anyone its the owner!! They let the stupid cat out and then you blame the police who probably couldn't do anything as the cat most likely disappeared meaning they couldn't find it holding someone who has no responsibility accountable for the welfare of an anonymous animal is ridiculous there is a registered owner, if they want to have such an animal then they need to be held accountable not others who happen to see these things

I'm not sure there is anything in the law that prevents cat owners letting their cats roam free. I know cats can be house cats or just confine themselves to their immediate surroundings but mainly they like to roam free.

The law is different for dog-owners, however.

The thing is, in Switzerland, cats are considered "half wild" basically, which means that they have the right to be permitted outdoors. This is why HERE it is a bit of a fight to adopt a cat from a shelter unless you can give them outdoor access or unless they were an "indoor only" cat in the first place.

The "stupid" owner was simply following animal rights allowances here.


Edit to add:
I do think that since the police officers (apparently) DID see the injured cat moving away from the scene of the accident, they should have done something to aid the cat, be it "simply" call some animal welfare representative or try to take it to a vet themselves. If they hadn't seen the cat and only saw blood in the street, I could see an excuse for lack of manpower / sufficient time to search for the cat since injured animals tend to be very good at making themselves scarce.

Ridiculous story!

I agree, the fact that they actually saw the cat means they could have possibly found it and maybe helped it.

No where in this article is there a suggestion the cat was really that badly injured, it mentions they say blood they saw a cat. If the cat was suitably mobile they were justified in returning to their car since noone has stated the cat came to any further harm.

As numerous people seem keen to highlight that these animals are half wild and that this is the beauty of being in Switzerland. I have no issue with this except to highlight that with this comes the point that if the cats are half wild then let them fend for themselves and stop treating them like some helpless child in other words they dont need rescuing. Equally if they run in front of a car well thats the price of considering them as partly a wild animal

I'm not mad on cats, as I already mentioned, but I can appreciate that for some people they are beloved pets and part of a family. It would take a pretty hard-hearted person to turn their back on any injured animal, let alone one that might be a family pet.

On the other hand, the cat in this thread might have tortured and slaughtered a massive rat and that was the blood being trailed into the undergrowth, in which case - meh...

On the other foot, some imbecile need to hush

Maybe it should be up to the person who hit the cat to ensure its properly taken care of.. . by calling welfare, finding a vet, finding the owner etc..