Throughout Switzerland, the number of animal welfare-related criminal proceedings has almost quadrupled over the past ten years and has even increased more than sixfold in the last 15 years. In TIR's opinion, this is a positive development because the number of cases is not an indicator for an increase in animal welfare-related offenses, but is rather the result of more consistent law enforcement.
 
The canton of Zurich had the highest number of proceedings in absolute terms (464 cases) and also in relative terms with 3.12 proceedings per 10'000 inhabitants. Other cantons also showed better numbers than in previous years, mostly due to improvements in the administrative structures of their police and prosecution offices and to greater awareness and willingness among the general public to report animal welfare-related crimes. However, in some cantons, such as Basel-Country, Freiburg, and Glarus, the number of cases remained very low or even declined compared to previous years.

In 2016, 63.8 % of the cases dealt with by authorities involved offenses committed against companion animals. Approximately a quarter of all proceedings concerned offenses against farm animals. As always, most proceedings involved dogs (1426 cases). However, this number should be put into perspective, as around 11% of the proceedings were held due to poor supervision of dogs and more than half of all dog cases concerned a failure to provide a certificate of competence (required for dog ownership; this requirement is now abolished at federal level and it is up to the cantons to decide whether or not and to what extent they wish to require a certificate of competence for dog ownership), meaning that in these cases the well-being of the dogs concerned was not directly affected.

As in previous years, the fines imposed for violations of animal welfare law amounted to an average of 300 Swiss francs. In some cantons and in certain cases fines reached 500 (Thurgau) or even 1000 Swiss francs and more (Geneva).

All cases were closed with fines, while not a single prison sentence was imposed. In light of the statutory range of punishment and the suffering resulting from the criminal acts in question, these sentences are still disproportionately low.

As part of this year's analysis of the Swiss penal practice, the legal provisions on the protection of poultry and their enforcement were examined in detail. The focus was on poultry husbandry. It turns out that there are hardly any animal welfare regulations on keeping poultry and that economic interests are generally weighted more heavily than animal welfare.

However, there are considerable shortcomings not only at a legal level but also in the enforcement of the current criminal provisions. For example, there are very few criminal proceedings dealing with offenses against poultry - in the last ten years, the proportion of cases involving poultry was only 1.6 % of the case material - which is astounding, especially in view of the huge number of chickens kept in Switzerland. It is also notable that of the few cases recorded in the TIR database none involve factory farms, despite them being particularly problematic from an animal welfare perspective. As a result, offenses against chickens continue to receive little attention.

In conclusion, there is still significant room for improvement in the enforcement of animal welfare law. It is absolutely unacceptable that binding legal provisions are ignored on a regular basis and animal welfare-related offenses are either not prosecuted at all or the sentences imposed are far too mild. In a list of demands, TIR has specified the eight most important postulates for an effective animal welfare-related penal practice.

The matter was covered extensively in the media. The list of print, radio, TV and online reports can be found under the German version of this news release.