Animals deserve the best lawyers

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The pictures are still shocking: emaciated horses wallow in the mud. They died on the farm of the farmer Ulrich K. in Hefenhofen, TG. This week, the Arbonsky District Court dropped all significant charges against the “tormentor”. Instead of a prison term, he gives eight months probation.

Prosecutors were negligent in the process: the yard clearing in 2017 was completely inadequately documented. This rendered the evidence invalid, and in the end the judge had to make a decision in dubio pro reo.

In Switzerland, the dignity of animals is part of the constitution. And yet such judgments are possible. If it wasn’t so depressing, you’d have to laugh about it. The fact that last fall a clear majority spoke out against the industrial farming initiative fits into a sad picture: first food, then morality.

An analysis by the Animal Welfare-in-Law found that animal rights violations are often downplayed (reported by SonntagsBlick). We have gone further: since 2007, there has been an animal advocate in Zurich who has campaigned for animal rights. Because the provision was not in line with federal law, the position was abolished in 2010. The Hefenhofen case shows that this was a mistake.

Source: Blick