Personhood referendum

September 4, 2000

Swiss ponder animal rights

The law, if passed, will apply to all animals

By Claire Doole in Geneva, Switzerland

The Swiss, it appears, are a nation of animal-lovers.

Animal welfare groups have gathered enough support for a referendum on

whether animals should be legally recognised as living beings.

It may be a Swiss peculiarity but, under the constitution, animals are

inanimate objects - they do not baa, bray or bark.

Four animal welfare groups who believe animals should be treated as living

beings capable of feelings have managed to persuade more than 100,000 of

their compatriots to sign a petition calling for a better legal status for

animals.

Under the Swiss system of direct democracy, that means the issue can now be

put to a national vote.

Animals' interests

In fact, the Swiss are proving to be such animal-rights enthusiasts, they

may be asked to go to the polls twice.

Another welfare group is gathering signatures for legal changes that go

even further.

These call for the respect of an animal's dignity, emotions and ability to

feel pain, as well as for its own set of rights to be enshrined in the

constitution.

The proposals could have practical consequences. Legal rulings would have

to take into account the animal's interests - for example, after the death

of an owner.

Similarly, if its owner went bankrupt, the animal could no longer be

considered an asset and confiscated.

The proposed changes would not just apply to domestic animals but to the

whole animal kingdom.

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