The team of 8 part-time employees at the SUST office has a mountain of animal welfare work to handle.
Optimizing an animal shelter and putting it on the path to professional animal welfare usually requires years of collaboration and active support. This support can take many forms: Sometimes the experts at the Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare organize an entire shelter renovation, provide first aid to animals, train professionals, and conduct spay/neuter and other health programs. Negotiations with authorities and public education are also part of such efforts.
SUST Food Aid delivers food for dogs, cats and other animals quickly and without red tape to animal shelters and animal welfare projects, and gives away food free of charge to destitute pet owners.
Our information leaflets are very popular, often featured in the press, and frequently requested by animal lovers and pet owners. Creating such brochures and making them available to pet owners is one of the many tasks of the SUST office.
Of course, the animal supplies from our material collection drive don't just represent a simple change of ownership, but also a wealth of expertise. With each handover, the conditions in the individual shelters and the progress of the various projects were discussed, and together we sought the best approaches and solutions for the future.
Negotiations with authorities, solutions to disputes with neighbors, strategies for educating the public, plans for the construction and renovation of animal shelters, improvements to species-appropriate animal husbandry, opportunities for lower care and treatment costs, the use of volunteers and much more were sought, discussed and fortunately found daily in our foundation.
Every day we receive calls, letters, and emails from individuals requesting help with pet problems. Whenever possible, we provide specific answers to these requests. However, a "remote diagnosis" is often not possible, and we assist those seeking advice by providing contact information for specialists. Spay/neuter campaigns and/or the trapping and neutering of individual feral cats also fall under the category of "individual animal welfare cases." In these cases, we organize the trapping of the animals and cover the costs of their neutering.
The SUST's important media and information campaigns on animal welfare issues regularly receive a great deal of attention. In addition to various TV and radio interviews, the SUST's articles and statements on animal welfare can also be found in print and online media.
Susy Utzinger, born in 1969, has been actively involved in animal welfare for decades, particularly concerning domestic and companion animals. For fifteen years, she managed nationwide animal rescue organizations and their emergency centers, drove animal rescue vehicles, and established two Swiss animal shelters. As a freelance journalist and animal photographer, she regularly publishes articles on animal welfare issues in various Swiss and German media outlets and frequently gives lectures. In 1993, this dedicated animal rights activist was awarded the Elisabeth Rentschler Foundation's Animal Welfare Prize, and over the years, she has received further animal welfare prizes and awards from various countries.
Benjamin Altorfer, born in 1989, has been closely involved with animal welfare since childhood. He came into contact with animal suffering and the realities of animal welfare work at an early age and grew up surrounded by animal welfare organizations from 1997 onwards. This experience continues to shape his understanding of responsibility towards animals.
His professional background lies in training as a forester. Respect for life, thinking holistically, and a commitment to sustainable practices remain the foundation of his work. For him, animals are not the focus of theoretical concepts, but of concrete responsibility.
As Managing Director of Business Administration at the Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare, Benjamin Altorfer, together with Susy Utzinger, ensures reliable, sustainable, and transparent framework conditions. His focus is on securing and further developing existing structures and optimizing them where they more effectively support animal welfare.
Previously, he worked as a department head and member of the management board at the Animal Rescue Service Foundation. He has extensive experience in leading interdisciplinary teams, in structural and process management, and in the further development of organizations under operational pressure. As a graduate in business administration, an active firefighter, a federally certified fire service instructor, and a reserve officer in the Swiss Army, he combines discipline, decisiveness, and a sense of responsibility with a practical and down-to-earth approach.
His commitment to animals is calm, steadfast, and solution-oriented. He stands for animal welfare that doesn't rely on symbolism, but on reliability, consistency, and sound foundations. For many years, he was involved in national and international projects of the Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare and understands both the realities on the ground and the necessity of stable structures behind the scenes.
In his private life, Benjamin Altorfer is a father of two and lives with his family and two dogs in the canton of Zurich. In his free time, he volunteers for an international nature conservation project training rangers and firefighters in Bolivia. There, too, he adheres to the same principle as in animal welfare: taking responsibility where help has a lasting impact.
At SUST since:
September 2025
Education:
Veterinary practice assistant (EFZ), tourism specialist (HF), PR specialist with federal certificate, Bachelor of Science in Tourism with Major Service Design, CAS Fundraising Management for NPOs
Experience:
PR/media relations, journalism, integrated communication, content management, project and event management, strategic and operational fundraising, experience with animal shelters, especially in Switzerland, several years of practical experience as a TPA
Responsibilities:
PR and media relations, videos, fundraising
Hobbies and interests:
Travel, sports (tennis, racing bike, inline skating), languages, and time with my family and friends.
At SUST since:
June 2016
Education:
FBA Animal Transport, further training in various animal welfare-related areas such as cynology, cat behavior, breeding, trade, veterinary medical topics, animal handling, etc., export trade specialist
Experience:
Deployments and operational management in Switzerland and abroad (Romania, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Egypt), management of "Social Work for Animals" including SUST veterinary consultations, management of policy, operational analyses and change management, project and team management, brand management in the private sector
Responsibilities:
Social work for animals SOFT, support for animal welfare projects in Western/Southern Europe, animal policy in Switzerland, castration campaigns
Hobbies and interests:
Sophie, Norway, languages, current world events
At SUST since:
February 2010
Education:
Career change with training as an accounting clerk (2012) and business school (2010), baker – confectioner
Experience:
2017 to present: Employee in the office
2010 – 2017 Camp supervision
Various modules of the animal welfare specialist course at VATS/Kompanima
Various SUST training courses (seminars and webinars) on dogs, cats, wild animals, hedgehogs, fish, cows, law
Various working days in Switzerland
Foreign deployments in Italy and Romania
Responsibility:
Back office, support for the SUST Academy, support for animal welfare volunteers, assistance with dispatches, mailings and events
Hobbies and interests:
Family, aquarium, nature
At SUST since:
January 2022
Education:
Geomatics Technician (EFZ)
Animal caretaker (EFZ)
Vocational trainer training ZBW St.Gallen 2019
Qualifications:
SUST:
Veterinary Medical Expertise 2018
Handling course 2022
Internal training course on animal welfare 2023
SKG – Courses:
BM 1 Law 2020
BM 6 Handling / Maintenance 2020
BM 8 Behavioral Observation 2020
BM 11 Multiple dog ownership 2020
BM 12 Dog Transport, Travel & Excursions with Dogs 2020
VATS: Training course:
Course 2: 2022/2023 Module 4 – Participation: Systematically addressing animal welfare-related situations
Course 2: 2022/2023 Module 5 – Providing competent advice on animal welfare issues
Experience:
10 years of experience as an animal caretaker in Swiss animal shelters, several months working in various dog rescue centers in Romania, participation in two SUST international missions in Romania, internship at Winti Vets
Responsibilities at the SUST:
Animal shelter support Switzerland, operations manager «Cat Force», operations manager Swiss working days, project employee SUST – veterinary consultations (SOFT)
Hobbies and interests:
Photography, gardening, cooking, trips into nature
At SUST since:
June 2008
Education:
Secondary school leaving certificate
Further education:
Animal Welfare Specialist Course Modules 2-5 (VATS), Canine Communication (SUST/Esther Schalke), Aggression in Dogs (SUST/Esther Schalke), Hunting Behavior (SUST/Esther Schalke), First Aid for Dogs and Cats (Various/SUST), First Aid for Horses (SUST), Internal and External Parasites (SUST), Media Training (SUST), Basic Veterinary Medical Knowledge (SUST), Behavioral Training Course for Dog Owners (TSCHiGi-School, Marlen Brandenberg)
Experience:
Assignments in Italy, Spain and Hungary, accompaniment on a sponsorship trip to Romania
Responsibilities:
General administrative tasks at SUST headquarters, project management for "Cat Castration Switzerland" and "SaveMyLife", start-up sponsorship program
Hobbies and interests:
Dogs, photography, truffle hunting, true crime
At SUST since:
September 2025
Education:
Marketing specialist (EFZ), commercial clerk, web professional (SIZ), social media & online marketing manager, equine first aider (Level II), Centered Riding Instructor (Level II), Trainer C+ (SFRV), SKN horse owner, SKN dog
Experience:
Corporate communications, event management, marketing & communications, mobile riding instructor and horse trainer, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, website building
Responsibilities:
Marketing and communication
Hobbies and interests:
Horses, dogs, horse health/biomechanics
At SUST since:
June 2024
Education:
2013, Completion of training as an animal caretaker (EFZ)
2021, Completion of VSH Commercial Diploma
Experience:
Until 2018, she worked as an animal caretaker in various animal shelters, responsible for training apprentices.
Since 2018, I have worked in various office roles at the Animal Rescue Service Foundation (consulting and public awareness work).
Foreign deployment (Galati, Romania)
Qualifications:
Various communication training courses, various courses in handling cats, dogs and small animals, as well as the vocational trainer course.
Responsibility (within the SUST):
Supervision of animal welfare volunteers, participation in sponsorship programs
Hobbies and interests:
My dog Arya, traveling, creative writing, adventures with friends, and reading. Thanks to my first international assignment in Galati, I was able to broaden my animal welfare horizons and I look forward to continuing this passion and gaining much more experience both at home and abroad.
