Animal Legal Aid Rejected in Referendum

Initiative to provide state-funded lawyers for abused animals was overwhelmingly shot down by Swiss voters.
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Animal Legal Aid Rejected in Referendum
A woman walks her dogs at the polo on the third day of the 24th Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow on Jan. 25, 2008 in St Moritz, Switzerland. An initiative to provide state-funded lawyers for abused animals was overwhelmingly shot down by Swiss voters in a national referendum with 70 percent of voters rejecting the proposal. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for St Moritz Polo Club AG)
3/7/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/SWITZERLAND.jpg" alt="A woman walks her dogs at the polo on the third day of the 24th Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow on Jan. 25, 2008 in St Moritz, Switzerland. An initiative to provide state-funded lawyers for abused animals was overwhelmingly shot down by Swiss voters in a national referendum with 70 percent of voters rejecting the proposal. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for St Moritz Polo Club AG)" title="A woman walks her dogs at the polo on the third day of the 24th Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow on Jan. 25, 2008 in St Moritz, Switzerland. An initiative to provide state-funded lawyers for abused animals was overwhelmingly shot down by Swiss voters in a national referendum with 70 percent of voters rejecting the proposal. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for St Moritz Polo Club AG)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1822352"/></a>
A woman walks her dogs at the polo on the third day of the 24th Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow on Jan. 25, 2008 in St Moritz, Switzerland. An initiative to provide state-funded lawyers for abused animals was overwhelmingly shot down by Swiss voters in a national referendum with 70 percent of voters rejecting the proposal. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for St Moritz Polo Club AG)
An initiative to provide state-funded lawyers for abused animals was overwhelmingly shot down by Swiss voters in a national referendum. Roughly 70 percent of voters rejected the proposal, which would have mandated legal representation for animals.

Animals would also have been given the ability to prosecute, according to a report in the Telegraph. Swiss Animal Protection collected over 100,000 signatures, which allowed them to hold the referendum. Had the vote passed, each Swiss canton would have had to appoint a lawyer for the animals.

The Swiss government was against the animal legal aid bill, saying that this would be too expensive for taxpayers. Switzerland is one of the most extensive animal protection regimes in the world including mandatory training for dog owners and a prohibition of aquariums that are transparent on all sides.