The Swiss Federal Ethics committee on Non-Human Biotechnology has written a treaty titled "The Dignity of Living Beings with regards to Plants", which puts forth, in simplicity, what the Swiss government feels should be the proper treatment of plants......all plants. It expresses the different moral stances according to which it is unanimously held that plants may not be arbitrarily destroyed, have their reproductive rights violated, or their dignity infringed upon. It posits that any arbitrary harm done to plants is morally impermissible, as well as reprehensible. Such damage would include, but not be limited to, e.g. "decapitation of wildflowers at the roadside without rational reason." As a result of this treaty, no one in Switzerland cuts down weeds and/or wildflowers before they have had the chance to finish their blooming cycles and have germinated, so that they're continued existence and health is reassured, and their fragile dignity is morally upheld.
Once this process is completed, they proceed to groom all public areas, but continue to leave small "islands" of weeds and flowers uncut for a few more weeks, just in case they weren't quite finished. I'm not kidding. This is not a joke, but the actual way in which the Swiss feel and think. Personally, I think it's wonderful. They have such a beautiful, well-kept but chaotic profusion of weeds and wildflowers here, and I think that it would be tragic to just cut them all down before they have a chance at life! It may make for a short period of what would appear to be very un-Swiss like lack of maintenance, grooming, and upkeep, but I think their feelings and thoughts are in the right place with this, and the flowers really are pretty. This inspired my wife to say, a few weeks ago, that in the future she always wants to live in a place with "nice weeds". How about that, we live in a place with nice weeds!Along the same lines as the "plants rights and dignity" treaty, Switzerland also has very progressive laws regarding the rights and psychological happiness of animals, especially pets. In 2008 the Swiss parliament, the Bundesrat, passed a series of laws that provides for the compassionate care of animals, particularly those that are considered "social" animals, such as guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, and fish. Under these laws, any social animal will be considered a victim of abuse if it does not have frequent contact with others of its kind. You must prove that the rabbit you buy your daughter for Easter will have other rabbit buddies to hang out with, and that your daughter doesn't spend too much time picking it up and snuggling it(or your son shaving it and throwing it around by it's ears), as this is considered an inappropriate treatment of rabbits if done in excess(especially the throwing it around by it's ears part).
All caged animals must be kept in government-approved domiciles, have enough space to roam, enough nesting material, exercise equipment, and must be cared for appropriately. Fish kept in tanks must have at least one opaque wall for privacy, and the natural cycle of day and night, in terms of light, must be maintained. Depriving your pet fish of proper sleep cycles is considered abusive. Anglers have to take a certified course in "fish compassion", in order to insure that they treat their water-dwelling prey humanely in the catching process. After all, fish can suffer, too! Anyone who wants to own a dog must attend a two-part course on dog ownership responsibilities -- a theory section on the needs and wishes of the animal, and a practice section, where new owners will be instructed in how to walk their dog, and react to various situations that may arise during the process! Farmers are not allowed to tether horses, sheep, or goats, and cannot keep pigs or cows in areas with hard floors, among other things. The cows here in Switzerland seem to be some of the happiest, well-kept feed and dairy animals I have ever seen. They're beautiful. Apparently, the Swiss spend more annually on each head of cattle than they do on their children! By the way, I think all this is great(well, except for spending more on cows than human children, perhaps).This year, however, voters here overwhelmingly defeated a measure that would have provided free lawyers to represent animals in abuse cases. Maybe even the Swiss think the current laws accommodating animals are sufficient. At current, their is only one free animal rights lawyer in Switzerland, and he is based in Zurich. Woe be to those poor fishies down in Geneva! A recent case that went to court involved a fisherman accused of torturing a "massive"(in the fisherman's words) pike that he caught. He had actually bragged about taking a full 10 minutes to land the fish, and was brought up on criminal charges for causing excessive suffering to the animal. Honestly, this is a major reason why I am not much of a fisherman. The obviously distraught, panicked, and horrified actions a fish makes as you are pulling it in by the hook buried in its mouth, and then the process of removing the hook and either beating their head against something to finish the job, or allowing them to slowly suffocate, has never appealed to me. Call me a sissy, I don't care. Anyway, the case attracted more than 6,000 fans on Facebook -- in memory of the pike. The prosecuting lawyer pointed out that if someone had put a hook in the mouth of a puppy and dragged it around for 10 minutes, what would are reaction have been? Touchè. The fisherman won the case, but that'll teach all you anglers out there to stop bragging so much!
On the other hand, the attitude of the Swiss government does seem to be in opposition to some alleged practices of the Swiss people themselves. Apparently, again allegedly, their is a huge industry in Switzerland regarding the production and trade of cat fur products for their use in clothes, handbags, blankets, and to cater to the belief that cat fur aids in the treatment of rheumatism. The cats are skinned by specialized tanneries, which may explain the relative absence of stray cats here! Their have even been reports from France of cats disappearing along areas of the Swiss border. Poor kitties.
The Swiss National Council(they do like to keep busy)has also just recently passed legislation that will result in the complete banning of violent video games in the country. The exact requirements necessary to ban a particular game have yet to be codified, but they soon will be. The Swiss really believe in looking out for their neighbors, and communities as a whole. When it comes to passing laws, rules, and regulations "for the good of all", they invariably go for it. This is a cultural legacy that exists in only very small measure in the United States. The one huge, glaring, obnoxious, and deadly hole in this cultural mentality here in Switzerland is their attitudes about smoking. They are really in the Stone Age when it comes to this, but at least some baby steps have been made recently, and the examples and results of the UK and America will hopefully spur them to start making them bigger and faster. As I've mentioned before, the biggest, and rudest, demographic of smokers here are the young, from early teenagers on up. Not only do they smoke the most, but they have zero smoking etiquette, and don't even consider the consequences of holding cigarettes up so the smoke drifts into every one's nose, and then blowing it directly into your face. My wife has gotten so mad on a few occasions, she has almost had to be physically restrained from punching smokers gambling at her table in the mouth. She certainly doesn't hold back from telling them how she feels, and what she thinks of them! Customer service be damned!
Check out some of the pictures below of a church cemetery here in Switzerland. When we discovered this, we thought it was pretty unique, but we have since found several more examples. Just another way in which the Swiss are different than the rest of us humans.
You can click on each picture to make them bigger.
See you next Blog!
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