Federal popular initiative “Ban on slaughtering without prior stunning”
The federal popular initiative "Ban on slaughter without prior stunning" (also known as the ban on slaughter ) is a Swiss popular initiative that was voted on August 20, 1893 and accepted by the people and the cantons. It was launched by the cantonal animal welfare associations of Bern and Aargau and had the aim of banning the slaughtering practiced by Jews . It was the first popular initiative to be voted on since its introduction in 1891. The debate about the bill was (according to later assessments) partly shaped by anti-Semitic representations.
text
The Federal Constitution is amended as follows:
Art. 25 bis (new)
- The slaughter of the animals without prior stunning before the blood is withdrawn is prohibited without exception for any type of slaughter and type of livestock.
background
As early as 1854, the canton of Aargau made it a legal requirement to kill cattle with a head blow. The Jewish communities of Lengnau and Endingen were excluded from this . They were allowed to slaughter. In Geneva, the “Animal Protection Association” and the Israelite Community found a compromise in 1889: the cattle had to be stunned during slaughter. The same was finally demanded in the federal popular initiative.
poll
The initiative was accepted with a participation of 49.2% with 191,527 votes in favor (proportion: 60.1%) compared to 127,101 votes against (proportion: 39.9%). The also required additional class was achieved with 10 3/2 to 9 3/2. While the initiative was clearly accepted in the northern cantons of German-speaking Switzerland ( Aargau : 90.1%, Zurich : 85.9%, Schaffhausen : 84.4%), it was just as clearly rejected in Ticino and western Switzerland ( Valais : 3rd , 1%, Ticino : 12.2%, Geneva : 12.8%).
In terms of content, it was a conflict between religious freedom and animal welfare : Parliament had recommended rejecting the initiative for the former reasons, but the population gave animal welfare a higher priority than avoiding a partial restriction of religious customs. The proportion of yes votes was higher in the German-speaking cantons, where the influence of German anti-Semitism was stronger. On the other hand, the initiative was clearly rejected in western Switzerland and Ticino, where both anti-Semitism and animal welfare met with less response.
“As a result of the economic crisis that began in 1873, for which the Jews were held responsible, they had increasingly become the scapegoat in Europe. On the basis of the arguments used in the voting campaign of 1893, the introduction of the ban on slaughter in Switzerland must be attributed to the effects of anti-Semitism. "
aftermath
On December 2, 1973, a vote was taken on the federal resolution on an animal welfare article instead of the previous article 25bis of the Federal Constitution. The animal welfare article was accepted, five years later - on December 3, 1978 - the Animal Welfare Act (TschG) was passed in a further referendum .
Web links
- Overview of the initiative
- Voting results
- Initiative at swissvotes.ch
- Friedrich Külling: ban on slaughter. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Metzger, Antisemitism in the City of St. Gallen 1918-1939 (2006), p. 70 : "A media product that [,] as in the case of the Schächverbotinitiative, repeatedly resorted to anti-Semitic representations, was the satirical magazine 'Der Nebelspalter', which appeared in Zurich and later in Rorschach."
- ↑ admin.ch: wording of the initiative (accessed on February 8, 2009)
- ↑ Alex Baur: Dispute over cattle . In: Die Weltwoche , issue 51/09, December 16, 2009.
- ^ Reprint of the federal resolution of July 4, 1893 in a constitutional complaint of the VgT of January 30, 2000
- ^ Friedrich Külling: Schächverbot. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .