Government backs ban on cat skins export
Switzerland is to take measures to ensure that it does not become a hub for the trade in cat skins.
The Swiss government announced on Thursday that it is prepared to adapt the animal protection law to ban the trade, including the export of skins. Their import is already forbidden.
The move will put Swiss law in line with recent EU legislation.
The government was responding to a parliamentary motion submitted by House of Representatives member Luc Barthassat.
The private cat support organisation SOS Chats has collected tens of thousands of signatures in favour of the ban. Animal rights activists believe that pet cats are snatched by furriers and that the animals are killed in a cruel way.
Furriers say that they only buy skins from hunters and farmers who are permitted to kill wild cats.
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