Swiss cantons struggle to regulate rise in dog biting cases

A frisky dog at a training course with his owner in Zurich. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Some 560,000 dogs now live in Switzerland, and the consequences – in terms of bitings – are increasingly being felt. Faced with the problem, the patchwork of cantonal regulations is clearly inadequate.

Whether in canton Basel City, Lucerne or St Gallen, the number of dog bites rose sharply across Switzerland in 2023. In canton Zurich alone, reports of incidents involving dogs increased by a good quarter from 660 to 840 cases.

What’s the cause? One simple factor is density: there are more and more dogs and more and more people, says Stefan Buholzer, deputy cantonal veterinarian in Zurich. In a country of nine million people, there are more than 560,000 dogs; as a result, there are more opportunities for conflict, particularly in outdoor leisure areas.

However, the large number of dogs only partly explains the increase, says Lucerne cantonal vet Martin Brügger. There is also the fact that people are now quicker to go to the doctor or vet in the event of an incident. Another reason is the high proportion of imported dogs: “experience has shown that there are a lot of problems with this group”, Brügger says.

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Compulsory training

Ulrich Beer also sees imported dogs as a problem. The President of the Swiss Kennel Club (SKG) is convinced that animal shelters and local dog breeders apply strict criteria when allocating dogs. However, this is of little use if the dog is simply imported.

Beer thus proposes a compulsory training course for first-time owners before they acquire a dog. This theoretical course would teach people about the diverse needs of a dog. “I can imagine that some will then refrain from buying a dog based on these facts,” says Beer.

Seven years ago, a national mandatory dog training course was abolished shortly after being introduced. Zurich is one of the few cantons where there are still compulsory courses for all large dogs. Soon these courses will also apply to small dogs.

In the canton of Zurich, dogs are also taken to kindergarten or school. The canton offers free courses for this purpose. “Children learn how to handle dogs there. Above all, they also learn to respect dogs,” says Buholzer from the Zurich Veterinary Office.

Lucerne test

Mandatory dog training for first-time owners has been in force in canton Lucerne for a year and a half: “we hope that this will reduce dog bite reports and reports of conspicuous or aggressive dogs,” says cantonal vet Martin Brügger.

You can’t just sit this course, you have to pass tests with your dog as well. For example, you have to simulate encounters with other dogs and with joggers or cyclists. Only when the dog behaves impeccably are you awarded the owner’s licence.

There are no indications yet as to how effective the system has been, since it takes a year and a half to obtain the licence.

The licence system also exists in canton Valais, while Basel City is considering introducing it. Switzerland’s top dog official Beer would meanwhile like to see standardisation, but not at any price.

“A national dog law like the one in canton Ticino, with a huge list of accepted breeds and the compulsory use of a lead, would not be in our interest at all. But we think a dog law modelled on the one in Lucerne makes sense,” he says.

For the time being, however, the issue will most likely remain a cantonal affair.

Adapted from German by DeepL/dos