Yes, our two cats are kind of famous with the neighbors now for sitting on the roof top watching the birds fly overhead. We worried a bit at first but they seem to have that famous cat sense of balance. And they complain bitterly if not allowed out onto the balcony and roof. Sometimes I hear them chasing each other over the roof and that freaks me out a little bit.

In WWII these were called roof-rabbits - taste just like rabbit and due to the shortage of food were hunted and eaten. So I know they can survive on a roof quite well (as long as they are not hunted due to food shortage).

How awful! Are you serious?

But I do think our cats could survive quite well on the rooftops. During the springtime, I've learned that I have to keep them inside until the baby birds have learned to fly - or at least figured out that our roof is dangerous to visit. The cats were catching them when they did test flights onto our roof and bringing them into the house to eat under my bed. One Sunday morning, I awoke to the sounds of little 'peep, peep, peeps' under my bed.

Hi there,

I did originally post this in the thread called "How to report a lost animal" but then I saw the last post was made 2 years ago, so im creating a new one just to be safe.

Basic intro: Im a student from South Africa, living and working in Arosa for the winter season.

Last Thursday (16 Feb) i walked down to my apartment buildings lobby and found a little black cat begging to be loved and fed. I took him down some milk and started trolling the internet on who to call. I knew he didn't belong to anyone in the building because we are not allowed animals here.

The only thing i could find was to call the fire department as they do animal rescue, which i did. I was told they would be there in an hour to pick the cat up. Two hours later, i received a call that they wouldn't in fact be able to make it and i must call the local police station.

I did this, only to be told to "put the cat outside" and it will find its own way home. The police were able to recognize the cat and even described some distinctive trade marks about it, so they have had calls about him before, and apparently he does belong to someone.

I understand cats wander off once in a while, but the fact that its been snowing here for almost a full week, the cat appears to be injured (extreme hair loss and a badly bruised eye) and they just wanted me to "put it outside" is quiet disappointing.

I bought some cat food, left a window open so if he truly was just on a midday stroll he could leave and go home. Its now Monday, (20 Feb) and Mr Cat is still here.

As mentioned, we are not allowed to keep animals in our apartments, and so fellow residents have been throwing the cat out in the snow where he sits and cries and tries desperately to get back in, until he eventually manages.

I would keep him in my room until i find a solution but my two room mates are deathly allergic.

I have looked everyday since finding him, but i still cant find any vets or shelters anywhere near Arosa to take him to.

Please please please, can someone help me?

www.stmz.ch

is the central point for reporting lost or found animals

You need a 'Tierartzt':
http://www.yellowmap.ch/CH_7050_Aros...reet=&HouseNo=

You were foolish to feed the cat. It won't go 'home' - it has made a new home with you...it will stay where the food comes from...

Cats are well-adapted to living in the cold and snow. If you don't feed it, it will go looking for food somewhere else, or catch mice, lizards, birds, insects...

There are many 'feral' cats in the villages and suburbs in Switzerland, along with the ones that have an owner and are regularly looked after.

I'm sure you can take any of the phone numbers for the veterinarians nearby and ask them what to do. If you really don't think it has an owner then your options are to turn it in to the vet who may or may not put it out of its misery, or let nature take the lead and let the thing survive (or not) outdoors...

Or just take it to the nearest vet especially if it seems the cat needs treatment. They can also scan the chip and find the owner. It's probable they have contact with a rescue place too.

I've deleted the other post and merged your new thread with this one which is on the same subject and already has good advice in it.
The age of the thread as such doesn't matter all that much. What is relevant is that the title covers the same sort of problem and that the Thread is in the right area. As soon as anyone posts in a thread, it jumps back onto the new posts list which is where most people seem to start their daily (hourly!) session on EF. In the sub forum where it is posted, it will come to the top of the lists of threads where this particular one will doubtless catch the eyes of cat and dog lovers.

I hope you find a good solution for the cat. It's heartbreaking to listen to a cat meowing...

Thank you all so much! Will try the numbers and hopefully I can find kitty's home!

Vagamack, if the cat appears injured please take it to a vet; the vet will then deal with the formalities in reporting the cat to the cantonal Meldstelle. If the cat is chipped the vet can find out right away who the owner is.

By law, one MUST report a found animal - you can do so via the link that eng_ch gave or via the Tierdatenbank at:

http://www.tierdatenbank.ch/cms/tier.../gefunden.html

If you bring a stray to a vet, you shouldn't be liable for the costs.


And if I may be allowed to hop on my soap box: While cats are not required by law to be chipped, please cat peeps - chip 'em.

Hope this little guy finds his way home soon.

It is so sad to hear of the kitties who may have or not have homes. Swiss Pea is right. Once you feed it, the cat will stay. But it is really unfortunate to find so many abandoned cats.

As yet, I am still in America and it is too common to find left behind kitties, especially in apartment complexes or neighborhoods next to them. Everyone loves to get a little kitten. Then they grow up. Additionally, some occupants have to move to a new location which does not allow cats. They leave the cat. We feed 6-10 kitties outside my mother's house and about 6-8 kitties outside my house each night. There are regulars and we have our names for them.

Thankfully, there are some local veterinarians in the area who volunteer their time one Saturday a month to spay or neuter these homeless cats by the dozens so they don't make new homeless waifs. We have trapped several and have paid a nominal fee of $20 each to take them to the volunteer event. If the female cat is pregnant, they spay her and remove the unborn kittens. That part tears me up, but it is better than having left them to a life of hunger and struggle. Survival of the fittest, I know.

One kitten we trapped had a tumor in its eye and the vet told us it would not live, did we still want the surgery? We paid because it had a litter sibling we also brought in. That cat has not had to struggle for food or water and it is still living happily although on its own outside. We worry during the hot Arizona summers and hope it is warm during the brief freezing times in the winters. But "Blind Kitty" gets to have a life and it makes us happy to know that.

There are many abandoned cats and the vet will "mark" the ones who have been treated by trimming the left ear right at the top so that it is straight across instead of the regular normal pointed ear. That way, we can tell which cats still need to be treated and which ones are OK to feed and leave alone.

Does Switzerland have any such service? When the concerned person calls these phone numbers, will the cats automatically be euthanized? Just wondering. Do you have to have a permit to have a cat in Switzerland? Someone mentioned a chip....are chips implanted in all cats that are registered?

Thanks MC. I didn't know that. I thought cats had to be chipped as well.

Another thing is when your cat is chipped, work out with the vet who will enter the data into the chip in ANIS. I have seen too many stories of confusion where a cat was chipped but the owner information in ANIS was empty. It is the vet's responsibility to put the chip in, but the owner isn't always told who will register the chip in ANIS- sometimes the vet does it, sometimes not. So chip your cat, and doublecheck in ANIS.

We got our cat pre-owned and pre-chipped, the original owners couldn't keep her as somehow she didn't get along with the two they already had...

Is there a way for me to check whether or not her chip is registered, and also to make sure it shows she is with us and not them?

You can check on the ANIS website. You can enter the chip number from her vaccination records and it should give you the details.

Bobbie Jean, Switzerland has very comprehensive animal welfare and animal control legislation on the books - the implementation of the legislation varies widely, however.

In a nutshell, animal welfare is regulated by the federal government, animal control is the competency of the individual cantons. Stray animals fall under animal control, not welfare - and so the canton is responsible for dealing with the problem.

The Reader's Digest Condensed explanation:

Every canton has a Meldstelle, a place where one lists details of lost or found pets - one can report online, or by phone. A finder is required by law to report the animal. A finder may not keep an animal without reporting it; to do so is considered theft. There is a 60 day waiting period before a stray can be rehomed or euthanized, to allow the owner to claim him. If one hits an animals while driving, the driver is required to stop and report the accident, and to help the animal if possible. One can be fined for a hit-and-run involving an animal. (On the other hand, the animal's owner may be held responsible if the animal caused an accident, liable for damage and medical costs.)

In theory there should never be a stray dog, as all dogs are required to be microchipped and registered in the ANIS database. So if a dog is found - bring him to a vet or to (many) shelters or (most) police stations to have the chip read. Then report the chip number to ANIS - et voilà, the owner is found! It is estimated that there is a 95% microchip compliance rate. Additionally, dogs must be registered with the local Gemeinde/Commune, and the owner pays an annual tax. So (again in theory) every dog resident in Switzerland is known to the authorities.

(And just an FYI since we are on the topic of dog control: training classes are mandatory for every dog acquired after 1 Sept 2008. Most cantons also require dog owners to carry 1-3 million in private liability insurance. And another FYI, about half the cantons have implemented BSL, restricting or banning anywhere from 4 to 13 breeds and their crosses.)

Cats are a different matter - there is no microchip or registration requirement, nor must a cat owner pay tax or register the pet with the local authority. Cats in Switzerland are actually classed as semi-feral animals - meaning they are considered untrainable and therefore their owners are not held accountable for their behavior to the extent that dog owners are, and as semi-feral animals cats have the right to roam. (There is a dark side to this, though - recently the federal government decided not to forbid a practice where some towns allow stray cats found more than 200 meters from a residential area to be shot. ) Obviously one is encouraged to chip one's cat, and to spay/neuter, especially if the animal is an outdoor cat.

Each canton handles the collection and housing of strays it's own way; some cantons support shelters, some do not. (There are shelters in all cantons, but some are private concerns and must rely on private funding.) There are also 'Tierambulanz' services, where one can report an injured stray animal for transportation to a hospital - but these too are privately run and funded, and largely staffed by volunteers. These services are only set up in a few cantons. ZH and BE spring to mind; I'd need to do some research to find others.

So - yes, there is a structure in place to deal with animal control. As with most things in Switzerland, it varies by canton. How effective the system actually is largely depends on local attitudes, local funding - which also vary. Bottom line, if you find a stray - or an animal that looks like might be a stray - the right thing to do is to take it upon yourself to first help the animal, and then to report it.

There are many threads in the Pets section discussing the ins and outs and legalities of pet ownership in Switzerland. A browse through the various threads here is always interesting - and hopefully enlightening.


ETA:

Vagamack, any news on the poor stray cat?

.

Peg, normally ANIS requires a transfer of ownership form to be filled out by the person surrendering the animal, and a another form to be filled out by the new owner.

This was fairly lax some years ago - but I found when I adopted the Belltie in 2009 the good folks at ANIS had become more stringent. Don't know if this is just for dogs (because of mandatory registration) or if it applies to all animals.

If you have any trouble changing the details of your cat's chip - get your vet involved. Mine has been able to smooth out most problems.