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Not an isolated case: when the federal government denies ‘Swissness’ to genuine Swiss breeds

A report in *Tierwelt* (Issue 46, 12 November 2020, by Ursula Glauser) describes a case that seems all too familiar to us: The Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW) is refusing to recognise the tricolour small-spotted rabbit – bred in Winterthur in the 1960s and recognised by the Swiss Rabbit Breeders’ Association since 1984 – as a Swiss breed, i.e. ‘Swissness’.

The reason lies in the definition set out in the Animal Breeding Ordinance: only breeds that originated in Switzerland before 1949 or have been listed in a Swiss herd book since at least 1949 are considered Swiss breeds. A breed that emerged in the 1960s therefore falls through the cracks – even though its Swiss origin is fully documented.

This is not an isolated case, but the same pattern, the same authority and the same outdated Animal Breeding Ordinance of 2012 that is also standing in the way of our cause. The case of the Kleinschecken reveals the mechanism at work: a rigid, long-outdated definition that excludes authentically Swiss breeds from recognition. The report itself describes this refusal as arbitrary.

Yet Switzerland has made an international commitment to preserve its native breeds – through the Rio Convention (1992) and the Interlaken Declaration, together with the Global Action Plan for Animal Genetic Resources (2007). Denying genuine Swiss breeds their ‘Swissness’ runs counter to these commitments.

You can read the full ‘Tierwelt’ report here:

» Read the ‘Tierwelt’ report