Many animal lovers want to offer a good home to a dog or cat from abroad. The Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare strongly recommends meeting an animal in person before adopting it (in Switzerland or another country) and visiting it several times.
Often, people choose to adopt an animal they have never met, which is brought to Switzerland by an organization. The only way to find out which of these organizations operate responsibly and in accordance with animal welfare standards is through transparency regarding their practices.
The SUST (Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board) addressed this issue: Animal welfare organizations importing from abroad were asked to provide information about their processes using a questionnaire. Only three organizations complied. SUST experts then conducted intensive research to gather the relevant information. The result is sobering: Transparency in the mediation process is not good.
This highlights the need to continue the project and to provide the public with broad and up-to-date information.
SUST works with animal trading organizations that are open to this (but also with new ones that join) on the transparency of their operations and also on the animal welfare-compliant rehoming of their animals.
To achieve greater transparency, the SUST also relies on the help of pet owners who have adopted an animal from abroad.
Personal assessment by Peter V. Kunz, Prof. Dr. iur., Attorney at Law LL.M., Professor of Business Law and Comparative Law, University of Bern, Institute for Business Law:
"The undersigned considers the SUST Animal Trade Report 2023 to be very positive."
The fact that the issue of importing pets into Switzerland is being addressed at all seems urgently necessary and certainly commendable. The animal welfare challenges posed by animal imports are generally underestimated. This topic falls within the remit of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (SUST), which, due to its international focus, appears ideally suited to produce such a report on the animal trade.
The concept of the questionnaires is compelling. The specific questions, covering both overarching themes and detailed individual issues, enable an assessment of animal dealers from an animal welfare perspective. The objective is clear: increased transparency in the problematic area of Swiss pet imports.
You can find the full assessment here. here.
What happens to animals when the adoption process is unethical? Here are some examples:
The fundamental principle is this: it will never be possible to relocate all the world's street animals to Central and Northern European countries. The number of street animals and their suffering can only be reduced and combated through comprehensive animal welfare work on the ground. This comprehensive work includes the neutering of street and privately owned animals, education, training for professionals, and the establishment and management of local animal shelters according to Central European standards. Animal shelters are not ghettos where animals die, but rather centers of expertise.
To shed light on the murky world of the pet trade disguised as animal welfare, we rely on firsthand accounts from those affected: Pet owners who have adopted an animal from abroad are invited to share their experiences by submitting a written report. You can find the questionnaire here.
We are also interested in the experiences of animal lovers who were interested in adopting a pet from abroad but then decided against it: Click here to access the questionnaire without adoption.
Experience has shown that pet dealers react aggressively to the publication of their practices. We therefore guarantee the anonymization of your data. If you wish, we will gladly contact you.
The more testimonials we can analyze, the more accurate the picture of the intermediary organizations will be – thank you!
Against disreputable animal welfare organizations – please help!
The reference work of the SUST Animal Trade Report is to grow steadily – for this we need even more testimonials from those affected.
You can help us! Print out the poster "Animal Trade Report" and place it where it will be seen by many people.
Download the poster directly here.
Webinar: Dogs and cats from abroad – Presentation of the SUST animal trade report
This webinar will give you insight into the shocking results of this report, as well as information about reputable animal adoption practices (from the animal's origin to sustainable animal welfare) and important information to help you decide whether to adopt a dog or cat from abroad.
In the SUST video library Can you attend this webinar? WATCH FOR FREE
