Switzerland: A Vision by Vegans

With the project vision-tierfreundliche-schweiz.ch the association Animal Rights Switzerland shows what a vegan Switzerland could look like.

The activists have compiled the content from various fields of science and public discourse. Among them are many futuristic and unusual ideas, writes nau.ch.

Here are just six of these visionary ideas:

Meat and dairy come from the laboratory; otherwise, plant-based foods are consumed.

Thanks to the technology of “precision fermentation,” dairy products and meat will soon be produced in the laboratory. Animal-based meat will thus become an outdated luxury item – and its production will be discontinued entirely.

Milk without cows?

Precision fermentation makes it possible. In the future, no one will be slaughtered in slaughterhouses anymore. The old buildings will be repurposed, for example as market halls or as museums informing visitors about the cruelties of earlier times.

Fishing clubs fish for waste instead of fish

Without liquid manure, rivers and lakes will become cleaner. Instead of fishing for fish, people will fish for rubbish. Fishing clubs would photograph and measure animals.

Animals have fundamental rights to life and physical integrity

The current animal protection law, which permits the killing of animals and violence against them, will sooner or later be revised: animals are to have fundamental rights in the future. Animal lawyers will then ensure that these are implemented and advocate for them in court.

Leather products are made from mushrooms and apples instead of animal hide

The tailoring and shoemaking trades are making a comeback. Instead of animal-based and petroleum-based components, materials made from cork, mushrooms, and apples will be used – products made from wool or leather will virtually disappear.

Contraceptives for animals instead of hobby hunting

Should population control be necessary despite wildlife migration, animal-friendly contraceptives for animals will be used. Hunting clubs will no longer kill animals, but instead organize guided tours and rescue roe deer fawns from mowing machines.

«It is not initially about realpolitik, but about stimulating the imagination.» In public debate, animal protection is often associated with prohibitions and mandates. With this project, animal rights advocates also want to show that an animal-friendly future is something creative and positive to look forward to.

Still far from the vision

The vision will not become reality for several decades, however. Because currently Switzerland is still miles away from the vision: last year alone, more than 84 million animals were killed for meat in this country. That is twice as many as 20 years ago. «Switzerland is becoming less animal-friendly rather than more animal-friendly. It is high time we addressed the question of what an animal-friendly future could look like.»

The vision is an important point of orientation for the direction in which Switzerland should develop in the coming years.

As a next step, the activists want to send their vision to politicians, researchers and companies. Including those who are unlikely to agree with the vision – for example, representatives of the meat, egg and dairy industries.

The goal, according to Schlegel, is to bring the ideas to the public and enter into a dialogue. «Even criticism can help us sharpen our vision and think it further. A broad movement of people who want to shape the animal-friendly Switzerland of the future is needed. Only with political impact can the structures that currently prevent progress be changed.»

Those who want to support the vision should start with themselves: «Anyone who consumes little or ideally no animal products is already living a piece of the animal-friendly future,» she concludes. More on the topic of vegan lifestyle and animal rights.