Susy Utzinger, born in 1969, has been actively involved in animal welfare for decades, especially in the pet and domestic animal sector. For fifteen years, she headed animal rescue organisations throughout Switzerland and their emergency centres, drove animal rescue vehicles and set up two Swiss animal shelters. As a freelance journalist and animal photographer, she regularly publishes papers on animal welfare issues in various Swiss and German media and gives lectures on a regular basis. In 1993 the committed animal rights activist was awarded the Elisabeth Rentschler Foundation's Animal Welfare Prize, followed over the years by other animal rights prizes and awards from various countries.

In 1993 she also completed an ethology internship in the Wolf Park in Indiana (USA). Various specialist courses and further training followed. In 1996 Susy Utzinger completed a two-year study as an animal psychological consultant at the I.E.T. in Hirzel. After the foundation of the organization "TierRettungsDienst - Leben hat Vortritt" in 1993 (which she still heads today on an honorary basis as President of the Foundation Board), the Zurich native began to work more intensively for quality in animal welfare projects in Switzerland and many other countries in 2000 with the establishment of the "Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare" (SUST).
The dedicated animal rights activist tirelessly trains specialists, optimizes animal shelters and is closely involved in countless projects, including in Romania and Hungary. Together with her employees and volunteers, she has already given hundreds of thousands of animals a better and more species-appropriate life.

In 2017, her biography "Heimatlos - aus dem Tagebuch einer Tierschützerin" (Homeless - from the diary of an animal rights activist) was published, which reports on her tireless pioneering work at home and abroad, but also offers a critical look behind the scenes of animal welfare today.

Susy Utzinger is currently Managing Director of the Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare (based in Kollbrunn) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the foundation "TierRettungsDienst - Leben hat Vortritt" in Winkel near Bülach.

The animal protection book "Heimatlos - Tagebuch einer Tierschützerin"

In the book "HEIMATLOS - Tagebuch einer Tierschützerin", Susy Utzinger talks about her fascination with animals, her great commitment to animal welfare, but also about her difficult childhood. In impressive stories, she reviews the past twenty years, provides insights into her tireless pioneering work in Switzerland and abroad and recalls countless sad, touching and happy stories with her protégés. She does not forget to take a critical look behind the scenes of animal welfare today, a subject that has undergone a fundamental change in recent years.

When the committed animal rights activist is asked today about her most important findings in connection with serious animal welfare, she replies: "Sustainable animal welfare is more than just a bowl of water and enough food; above all, it means a lot of work, discipline and perseverance." And so the founder of the "Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare" tirelessly trains specialists, optimizes animal shelters and plays a leading role in countless projects, including in Romania and Hungary. The Swiss woman has never been deterred from her mission, neither by professional setbacks nor by private strokes of fate.

The positive result: together with her employees and volunteers, she has already made it possible for hundreds of thousands of animals to live a better and more species-appropriate life.

You can buy the book in the trade or order here (available only in German): www.susyutzinger.ch/Shop