Well, I do hope they've become more sensible and less extreme about the whole thing. A few years ago there quite a few were horror stories on this side of dogs being taken away.
Re the fear of dogs thing - keep them on a lead wherever you are likely to share space with others. Or if you can, make like one particularly brilliant dog owner I pass on my jogs: when she sees someone coming, she calls the dog (a beautiful Berger Blanc Suisse) to her and gets it to lie at her feet and look at her until the person has passed. Playing then resumes. The control she has over her dog is impressive and I have stopped to thank her for being so considerate.
If there are "Leinenpflicht" (leads mandatory) signs, this means you too, ignoring the rules only makes anti-dog sentiments worse. Irchelpark in Zurich is notorious for dogs roaming about well away from owners despite leads being obligatory. Some seem to feel that means having a lead with you... and chucking Robidog bags just anywhere (or not bothering with them at all) is very unhelpful.
Since this is on the same topic, rather than starting a new thread, I had a question, particularly if anyone lives in ZH (but also in the general surrounding kantons).
How are breeds determined in cases with no pedigree papers? At what point in the process of moving to Switzerland are breeds assigned officially? I'm guessing at that vet appointment <10 days after you arrive where you get registered by the vet into the ANIS database?
My dog is a rescue, but he looks just like, and conforms perfectly to, the breed description of this breed: http://www.ukcdogs.com/Web.nsf/Breed.../BlackMouthCur
The UKC have the option of a single registration, and don't need a pedigree to do it (only several color photos to check conformation). It's a rare southern US hunting/treeing dog (not so rare in the South, where I got him).
I emailed the ZH Kantonal vet, and they responded in German, which I don't fully know how to interpret:
Sieht ein Hund einem Rassetypliste II Hund ähnlich, so muss man grundsätzlich davon ausgehen, dass es sich um ein Mischlingstier einer verbotenen Rasse handelt. Entweder kann man sich mittels einer Phänotypisierung Gewissheit verschaffen oder man kann mittels Abstammungspapieren belegen, dass es sich nicht um einen verbotenen Hund handelt.
Der Black Mouth Cur ist eine vom United Kennel Club anerkannte Rasse. Wenn Sie Abstammungspapiere vorweisen können, welche belegen, dass es sich um einen reinrassigen Black Mouth Cur handelt, dürfen Sie Ihren Hund im Kanton Zürich halten.
In particular, the word "Abstammungspapiere". Maybe I have to respond back to inquire, but I figured this was worth asking around about. Is a registration with the UKC 'good enough' for purebreed certification, or must I have a full pedigree?
(If you did a Google image search on the Black Mouth Cur breed, you might realize why this is important, because they sometimes look like lab-bully breed mixes... although mine fits perfectly with the pictures from well-registered breeders' websites.)
to keep their lives simple, they see a mixed breed with potentially some lineage from a banned breed as the banned breed. The onus is on you to deliver documentation to proove otherwise or go through the exception process.
What does your local vet say about this? Doggy DNA test worth doing, I'd say.
In the eyes of the ZH Veterinäramt the definitive test is DNA analysis. The ban is not only on purebred dogs on the list but also on any dog mixed with one of those breeds. If a dog has 10% or more DNA match with a banned breed, that dog is also banned.
In practice, if a person in authority or a mandatory reporter - a vet, a customs official, a policeman, a trainer, etc. believes (usually based on physical appearance) the dog to be a listed breed or mix thereof, that person reports the owner to the Veterinarämt. An investigation might be done and a DNA test might be ordered. There is no automatic testing, it is only done when there is suspicion of the dog being a banned breed or mix - and that usually arises in conjunction with a complaint about something else.
(By the way, I have not heard of any cases of DNA tests being ordered - have any of you?)
FYI, Abstammungspapier is indeed a full pedigree. Registration of an individual is not usually enough, as lineage (usually 3 generations) is what proves that your dog is indeed the breed in question.
However, all things are subject to interpretation in Switzerland. So what I would do is to present your papers to the ZH Veterinäramt and explain that this is the correct form for UKC registration. Since UKC is not an FCI club (the standard in CH) it is plausible that the fact that different clubs have different registration procedures would be understood and accepted. I would write a clear, concise explanatory letter. If you are not fluent in German have it translated by an professional translator. Do not send this in English.
However, I'm not sure if I would go poking this particular hornet's nest without reason. Are you concerned that your dog would be mistaken for the Basicdog, which I think is a product of pitt x GSD lines?
By the way, not knowing anything about this breed I did a bit of googling - is your dog cropped? If so, you have another round of bureaucracy to go through to get an exemption from the ban on docked/cropped dogs.
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Now... I do not know which labratory does the ZH DNA testing and so cannot comment on that process. But as I mentioned upthread, the just-for-the-lolz commercial test I had done on my dogs claimed that my pedigreed sheltie was 100% schnauzer. I'm a tad skeptical of the accuracy of DNA analysis to determine dog breeds, to say the least. This would be especially true in your case, as the analysis is based on matches to a database. As the Black Mouth Cur is a US rare breed there would likely be no matches to a Swiss or European database - and instead you might get percentage matches to other breeds, possibly painting a different picture.
And finally - have you considered living in another canton? ZG is the most laissez-faire, SZ has no BSL (but does have a general leash law when in public.)
Thanks meloncollie for your response! There's a pretty good trend I've noticed of your thoughtful, complete, and informative responses
For a fun (but long) read about DNA tests, I found this as one of the first links on a quick google search recently: http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=23206
Basically, executive summary: The DNA tests are made more for consumers and definitely not for law. They are simply not *that* accurate. Especially at the 10% level. Another note: it looks like Mars Wisdom Panel is the main DNA testing group at this point... due to copyright on the science. They don't have Black Mouth Curs on their breed database... clearly, if they don't have the breed in their database, you won't get that as an answer. Not sure what the Swiss government uses, them as well or another company?
As a note, I visited Zurich this summer, and after finding that I only saw one bully-looking dog in two months of keeping a weather eye out (must have been a Staffie, and stopped the owner to ask about it, who was very friendly and helpful... and had been fathered in from before 2010), I ordered a test from Wisdom Panel for my dog. They clearly didn't have much ability to pin him down, because it came back with weird great-grandparents (of which there are 8 spots): two collies and one staffie. Everything else on the profile is an unknown mixed breed. Seriously? Crap.
Just for giggles, below detection limit were boxer, brussels griffon (huh?), otterhound (again, what?), german wire-haired pointer, and yorkie. A yorkie?
As a scientist, I wish they listed some quantitative measures of the uncertainty that they had when they put down those great-grandparents, because I don't trust it at all.
Nevertheless, as you say, I think to be safe I need to go ahead and pre-emptively look at another neighboring canton, because I think I know what will happen if someone *does* request a DNA test. Very disheartening. I would gladly muzzle my pup (he's used to gentle leader/halti's anyway, and I always leash him anyways, usually even on hikes) in exchange for living in a reasonable commuting distance from work, and not forfeiting my furry family members.
I would love to learn more about the ZH DNA tests, but google has not been my friend, I have not been able to find any info. It would be interesting to see if anyone challenges DNA testing for breed in the courts... but I'm not holding my breath, given the current level of misunderstanding and prejudice, even among animal welfare peeps who should know better.
Be that as it may, if you can find appropriate housing I would suggest looking at ZG or SZ just to avoid any potential hassle. We live in SZ; my husband's commute to Zürich is 30 minutes at silly o'clock in the morning, 40 in the evenings. Easy-peasy.
Housing in SZ or ZG is expensive, but taxes are quite a bit lower. (As Americans, though, you pay at least the US tax rate so that might not be a enough of a trade-off for you. But run the numbers, you might be surprised.)
ZG is just about the most (legally) dog-friendly canton in CH, SZ has no BSL but there is a general leash law in public. As long as you don't live in my neighborhood much of SZ is pretty dog-friendly. Honestly, the problems I've had are due to having several dogs and one rabid neighbor. Breed is not so much an issue.
If you only have one dog you could look at GL; there is no BSL - in fact BSL was voted down in 2012 - but GL is revising it's dog control laws. The current proposal, which is still in the commentary period, not yet law, would impose restrictions on owning more than one dog. (All dogs in the family will have to stand a Wesenstest together as a group.) GL is farther out but still commutable-able, housing is less expensive and the mountains are just on your doorstep. In fact, I had put an offer down on a house in GL when they announced the new legislation. GL is now out for me, but if you have only one dog and no plans to increase the canine family I'd consider it.
Also look at St Gallen, in the See-Gaster area around the Obersee. Depending on where in Zürich your office is, the commute might only be 45 minutes. No BSL, better housing, higher taxes - but again given your US tax obligations this might not be an issue.
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But bottom line - the Black Mouth Cur is not a banned dog in ZH. It really boils down to: does he look like one of the banned breeds? If his proof of breed is deemed sufficient you shouldn't have problems in ZH.
I know that it's a bit of a roll of the dice. I'm not one to gamble with my dogs' welfare, so I completely understand your concerns.