Hi all! My boyfriend and I are looking to adopt a dog from Romania, the lady from the shelter says she thinks they have some Amstaff in them and that this is a banned breed in Zurich.

They are clearly not full Amstaff but have a resemblance, they look more like a rat terrier. The passport says ‘mixed breed’, does anyone know what the border/Swiss authorities do? Do they just trust what the passport says or would they require some other verification e.g. DNA test?

Thanks for any help! The shelter are really struggling to rehome these pups and we would love to give one a home but don't want to have any trouble importing her.

ETA Sorry, I see it's ZH. Ignore my previous comment. (Note to self: Call Augenarzt, schedule that cataract op...)

It's not the border authority that matters, rather the cantonal Veterinäramt. BSL is solely a cantonal matter.

If the dog is an AmStaff mix, then the dog is banned in canton ZH, full stop. You may not import, or keep, a dog with 10% or more DNA match with any of the List 2 breeds. But here's the kicker - in practice, phenotyping, at the discretion of the Veterinäramt, is used to determine if a dog is part List 2.

Yes, I know it says mixed breed. But if you have been told there is AmStaff in the mix, in all good conscience you need to act with that in mind. Don't even think about it, the dog risks euthanasia if someone complains.

The time for grandfathering is years past, no List 2 dogs may be brought into the canton.

See this summary of ZH regs, complied by Tier Im Recht Foundation. Links to the actual text of the law are at the top of the page.
https://www.tierimrecht.org/de/recht/hunderecht/zurich/



Sorry the news isn't what any of us want to hear. BSL is bad science, bad law.


ETA2:

One way to help the dogs that cannot be easily homed is to financially support the shelter, perhaps offer a 'Patenschaft' specifically for these dogs. Just a thought.

meloncollie, just curious, if a person were to want to pay for a recognized DNA test for a possible adoptee, if the test came back free of listed dogs could the person safely import the dog having that test in the pocket in case someone visually IDed the dog as listed? Or would the visual ID risk trumping the DNA test? (I realize this is then “lost money” if the dog DOES come back as part listed breed, but at least one would have the peace of mind ...)

Anna, here's what the ZH Veterinäramt website says, my bold:

https://www.zh.ch/de/umwelt-tiere/ti...ml#-1343477819

Neben den oben genannten Hunden sind auch alle Mischlinge mit mindestens zehn Prozent Blutanteil der verbotenen Rassen verboten. Bestehen aufgrund des Erscheinungsbilds des Hundes Hinweise, dass er zu den verbotenen Hunden zählen könnte und liegen keine ausreichenden Abstammungsnachweise vor, entscheidet das Veterinäramt aufgrund der äusseren Erscheinung des Hundes über seine Zuordnung.


Roughly translated:

In addition to the dog breeds mentioned above, all mixes with at least ten percent of the forbidden breeds are prohibited. If there are indications based on the dog's appearance that it could be one of the prohibited dogs and if there is no sufficient proof of pedigree, the veterinary office will decide on its classification based on the dog's outward appearance.


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I don't know how the ZH Veterinäramt act in practice, but honestly, it is not worth the risk.

If one has a dog that is known or suspected to be a mix with one of the banned breeds, to keep your dog safe the only choice is to move to a non-BSL canton.

Here's a sad thread from several years ago:
https://www.englishforum.ch/pet-corn...home-lara.html

This dog's papers said staffie mix, so not quite the same situation - but you can see what a hard line the Veterinäramt took.


ETA:

The above is ZH - I see you are in VD. In VD there is not an outright ban, but rather four breeds and their crosses require permits in order to be kept. This includes conditions the owner must meet, training classes, and a test. Note the potential consequence for non-compliance!

https://www.tierimrecht.org/de/recht/hunderecht/waadt/

Bottom line, BSL is cantonal - and as usual, each canton does it's own thing.

Thank you. I was asking more just to know so that if I’m ever approached for advice I could help someone. When in FR we decided not to get a Rottie as even though we could have, I didn’t want to deal with the licensing and tests. I know a few people who have listed breeds in FR and several have been judged harshly based on one not-so-great obedience test with an adolescent Staffie for example (case in question : forced neutering, they argued hard and had it accepted to try the hormonal implant first. Not surprisingly the dog got very unsettled and all of a sudden was getting into fights at our training school. Our trainer took it up with the canton and got the decision reversed. A thirteen month old staffie was a bit too lively during the official examination is all. He had no other issues than being high energy and easily distracted. At thirteen months ... that’s when I said as long as we’re in FR I’ll not get a listed breed, no desire to be at their whim. Of course now we could get the Rottie but we ended up with two Appenzellers in the meantime.)

Edit: I see just now that Rottweilers are still listed in VD, along with Amstaff and American Pit Bull. But not Dobermanns. Regardless, the people I know in VD with listed breeds have had in general a better experience than in FR, of course this is purely anecdotal.