What do you do if a dog turns up in your garden? This was the subject of a recent article in the HEV newspaper. "Hauseigentümer".

The article states that many people are unaware of the fact that in Switzerland you are legally obligated to report a found dog. There is a 24 hour telephone number to call 0840 848 820 to do so. Local telephone charges apply. Alternativelly you can also visit the website and fill out the forms. www.gefundene-tiere.ch

If you are not a dog owner, when you call you can ask for advice on how to make the dog more comfortable, and in the meantime they will look for a temporary place for the dog. It is possible that the lost dog is very far from home.

If your dog has gone missing, there is a also a reporting procedure. The 24 hour number is 0900 848 820. The charges are 2.13 chf per minute. There is also a website: www.vermisste-tiere.ch

Photos can be sent in both cases by MMS with your mobile. The service is run by the Tierschutz. The costs are set up in such a way that the person who has lost their dog pays more than the person who finds a dog.

I have used the term dog here but of course the service also covers cats and other household pets. According to the article, female cats can wander up to 4 km from their home, male cats even further.

Something to keep in mind...if your lost dog is taken to the Tierheim, when you pick the dog up you will be required to pay for the care of the dog during its stay there.

If you lose your dog, the best thing is to put an advert in the paper with the following text:

"Here boy!".

HTH.

Nick

All cats and dogs in Switzerland should be chipped, so the authorities should have no problem returning it to it's owner.

Good idea, but i know a few people who have cats, and not done this.

Now the million dollar question is should i chip our rats

You could do, but I suspect most people are like me, if I see a rat I'll introduce it to our dog on the assumption it's not domestic.

Ours are too cute you would want to keep them.

As you have to pay the Gemeinde a yearly fee to keep a dog, they should have all the information regarding your dog. Now all dogs are chipped you no longer have the brass tag with a Kanton Nr to I dentify your animal. The last dog I found I took to the Gemeinde house and they sorted it. The stress of losing your dog plus having to pay Chf 2 per min on a phone line no, I would contact the Gemeinde first.

DC

To be honest with you i have never seen a dog without its owner in Switerland, but in the UK that`s another story

Certainly in Aargau that's not the case. You still have to have the tag on the dog's collar. If only to show you have paid....

What if the dog has strayed from another Gemeinde?

The other issue is that the Gemeinde has limited opening hours. What would you do if you found the animal on a Friday night after hours?

The whole idea of the system is that it is independent of opening hours. If everyone contributed to this system rather than doing "their own thing" it would make the whole system a lot more efficient.

When we brought our dog to Zurich 2.5 years ago, they gave us a brass tag. It fell off recently, so I am wondering if I need to get a new one? We pay the yearly fee, but never receive a new Brass Tag, so wondering if it is discontinued in Kanton Zurich, as well?

Seems it would be easier for people to get her information (from the tag) if she wandered off, rather than taking her somewhere with a chip reader...

fduvall

Do you mean with the pets address on, if so i have seen them in little shops that do engraving, you could buy 1 have your address engraved then attach it to your pets collar

I'd highly recommend a separate tag with at least the dog's name and your telephone number on it (in addition to the regular chips/tags whatever). Our Newf decided to take a stroll up to Credit Suisse Uetlihof one sunny summer afternoon and caused a bit of disruption up there. Luckily our phone number was on his tag and so some very smart but very nice banker gave us a call and invited me to pick up the dog who - by the time I got there - wasn't feeling very happy or cooperative. He just sat there in the middle of the plaza and wouldn't budge (all 60 kgs of him). Poor baby

In Schaffhausen the introduction of obligatory chipping does not mean that dogs no longer are no longer required to wear the "Hundemarke".

Allthough nobodys ever seems to check a fuss may be made if an authority finds a lost tagless dog. My dogs don't wear theirs unless we cross the border, but I have the tags with me at all times. The contact address tag is probably a good idea - the unlikely event of dogtheft and ransoming does spring to mind, but maybe Im just paranoid. The Anis (dog chipping agency) collar tag does of course make sense, as it will indicate to the uninformed what to do if the dog is found. (Police, vets and animal shelters have chip reading devices.)

Btw since obligagatory chipping has been introduced the numbers of animals chucked out of cars on motorways before the holiday season and the like by irresponsible owners (may lightning strike them) has decreased dramatically. My dogs once found a half starved and tick ridden cat in the woods that had strayed from home for 6 weeks. Via the chip the vet was able to contact the owner who was overjoyed to welcome her back. This cat had wandered over 20 km from home!

Besides using the aforementioned online services I'd also inform the local Tierheim of a found unchipped animal, as many owners will look for their lost pet there.

Once we got it to work on domestic animals, maybe we could chip human beings as well, think of the surveillance opportunities...

Hey All,

If you live in the Basel-Stadt, Basel-Land, or Schwarzbüb area of Solothurn you can also contact the Tierschutz Beider Basel! They are really good and very friendly. They make a huge effort to find lost animals! I speak from experience! http://www.tierfundbuero.ch/

Good luck!
Danica
*1 dog, 1 indoor cat, 3 outdoor trouble makers with fur*

I once found a your kitten in a village where I lived. It looked like it wasn't a stray, so I visited the local Pet Doctor.

The Doctor recognized the cat and gaveme the details of the owner, who then came to pickup the cat.

Worked fine for me...

This is most likely the completest list:
http://www.stmz.ch/de/

If your pet is microchipped, you can register him/her to Anis the swiss national database.

From the website an useful short summary of things to do:

Great info. thanks.

Let's hope this information will be helpful- Lulu ran away this morning (not from my house).

If anyone sees a shorthaired Chihuahua, sable with white chest and front paws in the Gattikon/Thalwill area let me know.

Thank you.