For example, went for a walk with your dog, crossed the Canton border and it turned out that there, rules for keeping the dog on a leash were completely different? Or missed work because you didn't realize that the canton where you work celebrates different holidays than the canton where you live?
Just curious, have you ever had problems / accidentally broke rules because of so many differences between cantons (in legislation, traditions, language etc.)?
I used to work in a Catholic canton and live in Zurich so rather than problems, I had the happy circumstance of more days off than I would have had in Zurich.
I am not sure about the object of your question.
Obviously when people move between Kantons they will experience benefits or disadvantages due to different laws and/or customs.
Sometimes serious issues if, for example, they take a breed of dog into a Kanton where they are banned, like Zürich that bans American Staffordshire Terrier, Bull Terrier, American Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Pit Bull Terrier, Bandoc.
Other countries like Canada do dog bans by city which is even more of a pain to comply with
Brought to you by the good folks at the Tier Im Recht foundation, a handy summary of all cantonal dog law:
https://www.tierimrecht.org/de/recht/hunderecht/
Learn them, follow them and you won't put a paw wrong.
At least not from ignorance.
(Cue yet another rant about the own goal that was the abolition of the SKN. That a dog owner does not know something so basic such as the fact that dog law is cantonal and local as well as federal is... disheartening. /rant)
There's no point except for curiosity. For example, isn't it ridiculous if a dog breed is banned in one canton and allowed in a neighboring canton and you live on a border?
If you are from Canada and if rules differ a lot by region (and by city?!) there, I guess it sounds ordinary to you, but to me, it seems really funny that in such a tiny country ('tiny' is for Switzerland, not Canada obviously) there are so many different rules, regulations, traditions, and nuances.
Not missed. But turned up on November 1st and nobody was there. Better this way around, also as it would have been the first day at work
OK, I realize you are only musing, but the answer is in the way powers are distributed. This tiny country is a confederation, much devolves to the individual cantons.
Taking your dog law example:
Animal welfare is the competency of the federal government. Hence, laws at the federal level such as the TSchV (and G) address animal welfare issues and apply everywhere.
Dog control is the compentency of the cantons, hence why regulations differ. The regs in each canton reflect prevailing attitudes there.
It gets even more complicated as federal law often relies on cantons/communities for enforcement - the only 'teeth' are at the local level. Attitude depending, some communities stick to the book, some blighly ignore laws or apply them selectively.
When you come to something like dog law, you can see how competencies easily cross over. Welfare issues and public safety issues are often intertwined - thus it is the responsibility of an owner to know what the law says at all three levels.
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I might go a step further and say that becaue BSL has little scientific basis and came about largely through emotional reaction... it is not surprising that you have very different laws in different cantons.
LOL!
When I was first here I turned up for work in Zürich on 2nd January and nobody was there, a bigger problem was the shops and many restaurants were closed. Eventually found somewhere to eat
Shop opening hours also vary considerably across cantons, so you need to plan carefully. For example Luzern still enforces stupid early closing times, e.g. 4 o'clock closing on Saturdays and 6.30 on weekdays at Pilatusmarkt , while neighbouring Nidwalden is allowed to stay own much later, e.g. Mo-Fr til 20.00, Sat 18.00 at nearby Landerpark . Just a few minutes drive away.
And some of us live near the border of another country too - you learn- adjust, adapt... makes life interesting. We never take dogs out without their passport as we often don't even know which country we are in- there is no marked line in the fields or woods
I have been refused to take 2 oranges into the USA, from Canada . The oranges where imported from Florida US of A into Canada to begin with :-)
It is verboten to fish in a lake with fish as bait ,from an other lake .And for good reasons ;-)
In Italy, and some of the other cantons, you must have blinkers on motorbikes if originally equiped with them, in Ticino (and Zurich when I lived there), you are allowed to remove them, so more than once I've been controlled in those places just to have them look at my license plate, and then wave me on!
Tom
If I steal the blinker of your bike ,you mind as well give me the whole bike :-) This makes sense in Italy
Aww come on! And I don't even know where exactly the cantonal borders are .... if my dog is allowed to live (and pay taxes!!) in Aargau, surely he's allowed to walk through a field in canton Zurich?
(I mean Tom's bike is allowed to cruise through cantons with different laws )
I agree with you. Luckily I didn't have such a problem yet. (Although I'm quite sure my cat spent quite a bit of "illegal" time in Thurgau )
Welcome to our world.
Your AG dog is welcome to walk through Zürich fields... as long as he you follow Zürich law, which might differ from AG law in some points. Take for instance the two cantons' differing take on BSL:
Let's say you have a Staffie in AG. Now in AG a Staffie is a listed dog, but in AG that means in order to keep him you 'only' are required to apply for a special permit. Being a good owner you jumped through the hoops, took the requisite courses, passed the test, etc. and now your dog is 'street legal' in AG. You know and follow all AG rules.
But cross over to ZH, where Staffies are outright banned. (Except for those grandfathered and successfully Wesenstested prior to 2010.)
As a non-resident your Staffie may visit ZH, but only if you keep him on a short line and muzzled - and if you are stopped and questioned, it would probably have been wise to bring your AG permit along. But although you may visit , you could not move to ZH, the grandfather clause has long expired and no more Staffies can be bred or imported into the canton. If you tried to do so illegally he could be seized and euthanized.
Now that same Staffie is quite welcome in SZ, so long as he is on lead in public, as all dogs of all breeds are supposed to be. Unlike ZH and AG where non-listed dogs may run free. In SZ there is a CHF 100 on the spot fine if any dog, of any breed is caught off lead. (Except that some Gemeinden don't enforce it. Others, mine in particular, do. Watch out for the white van parked near the trail.)
Should your Staffie fancy a trip to laissez-faire ZG, however... no restrictions of any kind, other than the general provision that all dogs should be under control (voice is sufficient if recall is properly trained and reliable) and not bother others.
So yes, there federal regs and then there are 26 different sets of cantonal rules a dog owner must know and follow.
Or not. As we have seen at least 20% of dog owners refused to even follow federal law and take the simple SKN, apparently with a nudge and wink from local authorities. Scofflaws abound... which is largely why stringent laws were voted in in the first place.
It's a jungle Paragrafendschungel out there.
The Tier Im Recht summary is a mobile dog owner's (second) best friend. Just take 5 minutes and read up on the regs of the places you regularly visit.
You live in a country where every village has a different tax rate for your earnings and you think different Kantonal rules are ridiculous?