Lions and tigers and bears; oh lawyer
Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 21:10
Posted by Marcel Strigberger
The Swiss in a national referendum have rejected a proposal to allow legal aid for animals in abuse cases. The vote was roughly 70/30 against. Those against used arguments such as Swiss animals already have more rights than their counterparts elsewhere. It is illegal for example for budgies to be caged alone. And a gerbil’s living space must be at least 1,500 square centimetres. It is also mandatory for dog owners to take training on how to properly care for their pets.
But for the time being, no legal aid for animals. This is indeed unfortunate. Until further notice beagles will have to continue to suffer indignities such as not being able to open a Swiss bank account.
Interestingly enough there is only one lawyer in Switzerland practising in animal law. Antoine Goetschel. He must certainly have an interesting practice. For one, he has no competition. I don’t think there is much chance of an elephant visiting his office and then go lawyer shopping if he does not like Goetschel’s rates. Other advantages are that he does not have to serve his clients coffee. A further plus is that if he does not like the case in midstream, he can probably easily get an order removing him as counsel of record. He should have no difficulty convincing a judge that he could not understand his client’s instructions. He can easily blame a hyena saying he gave him sage advice and his client just laughed at him. And it would not be improper at all to refer to some of his clients as real snakes. Then again, he should have no problems with his clients’ manners as one thing for sure, they always arrive at his office on time.
This type of practice is starting to sound good. I would find this type of work a refreshing relief from the nasty family law work I do too often.
I don’t know much more about Antoine Goetschel but no, his office is not located at the Zurich Zoo. Nor is it built in the shape of an ark.
But for the time being, no legal aid for animals. This is indeed unfortunate. Until further notice beagles will have to continue to suffer indignities such as not being able to open a Swiss bank account.
Interestingly enough there is only one lawyer in Switzerland practising in animal law. Antoine Goetschel. He must certainly have an interesting practice. For one, he has no competition. I don’t think there is much chance of an elephant visiting his office and then go lawyer shopping if he does not like Goetschel’s rates. Other advantages are that he does not have to serve his clients coffee. A further plus is that if he does not like the case in midstream, he can probably easily get an order removing him as counsel of record. He should have no difficulty convincing a judge that he could not understand his client’s instructions. He can easily blame a hyena saying he gave him sage advice and his client just laughed at him. And it would not be improper at all to refer to some of his clients as real snakes. Then again, he should have no problems with his clients’ manners as one thing for sure, they always arrive at his office on time.
This type of practice is starting to sound good. I would find this type of work a refreshing relief from the nasty family law work I do too often.
I don’t know much more about Antoine Goetschel but no, his office is not located at the Zurich Zoo. Nor is it built in the shape of an ark.
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