Tarzisius Caviezel: Board Member of Jagd Schweiz Reported to Authorities

On Saturday morning, 2 February, the children of a family had been happily watching a roe deer that had sought refuge in their garden.

But then they noticed something was wrong. A furious, unleashed bloodhound was hot on the heels of the frightened wild animal. «The dog came running from behind. Extremely aggressiveThe dog came running from behind. Extremely aggressive.» The mother then ran out of the house, screaming, to drive away Tarzisius Caviezel's dog.

«But it continued to chase the deer down the street», says another eyewitness who lives in the same neighbourhood. What neither of them knew at the time: the dog belongs to hobby hunter Tarzisius Caviezel (64), who has been hunting for 40 years and is a board member of the militant hunters' association Jagd Schweiz. Tarzisius Caviezel himself describes hunting as a sickness from which he cannot be cured. His favourite quote is:

Lies are never told as frequently as before an election, during a war, and after a hunt.

Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898).

Indeed, hunting is the hobby in which lying is par for the course.

Further down the road, near the rehabilitation center, the deer finally collapses from exhaustion. Caviezel's bloodhound immediately pounces on the animal. «When I arrived, the snow around the animal was already stained red with blood», the mother tells journalist Flavio Razzino from Blick.

The deer was missing its tail and its flank had been torn open. «I tried to drive the dog away with a ski pole», she says. Only then did Caviezel arrive, accompanied by a second dog.According to an eyewitness, this dog was also not on a leash.

Tarzisius Caviezel is alleged to have beaten his dog

«It was truly awful when my children and I had to watch Caviezel kick and beat his dog several times as punishment», says the mother. He also took the deer and placed it over the roadside crash barrier. «He was clearly trying to break the animal's neck», she recounts.

If Mr. Caviezel was unable to kill the animal, his actions at the very least constitute mistreatment within the meaning of Art. 26 Para. 1 lit. a of the Animal Protection Act (TSchG), and thus also an act of animal cruelty.

The mother's account is confirmed by additional eyewitnesses who were present and able to observe the events. Among other things, a post bus had to stop because of the incident, as Blick further reports.

In the described case of a deer being chased by a dog, the offence of poaching may be applicable. For dog owners, Art. 77 TSchV establishes a specific duty of care: “Anyone who keeps or trains a dog must take precautions to ensure that the dog does not endanger people and animals.” According to Tarzisius Caviezel's own statements, his hunting dog escaped when he was trying to put it on a short leash. He claims, at any rate, that he did not give the dog a hunting command. By failing to prevent his dog from chasing the deer, he breached his duty of care under Art. 77 TSchV and rendered himself liable for at least negligent poaching.

By beating his dog, the hobby hunter rendered himself liable for animal cruelty within the meaning of Art. 26 of the Animal Protection Act (TSchG). Mistreatment occurs when unjustified pain of a certain intensity is inflicted on an animal.According to witness statements, Tarzisius Caviezel kicked and beat his dog several times as punishment.

«Why would I do that?»

Speaking to Blick, the hobby hunter did confirm that his dog had chased a deer. He said his hunting dog had bolted when he was trying to put it on a short leash. The question remains what kind of signals the hobby hunter is sending that a dog could get so completely out of control in a village.

The hobby hunter vehemently denies having beaten his dog. «Why should I do that? He didn't really do anything wrong as such. The only mistake was that he hadn't received a command to chase after the roe deer", said Caviezel. He also denies that his second dog was not on a leash. He accuses the journalist of having done poor research.

Despite independent statements from several eyewitnesses, Caviezel sticks to his version.

The Graubünden Office for Hunting and Fishing has opened proceedings. It is being investigated whether the Hunting Act was violated, specifically Article 18. This states that anyone who allows their dog to poach will be punished with a fine. «I know that this will result in a complaint being filed against me. And I take full responsibility for that", Caviezel tells Südostschweiz. The IG Wild beim Wild is granting the board member of the dubious association «Jagd Schweiz» this wish by filing a complaint.

All animal protection criminal offences must be pursued ex officio, as they are so-called public offences. It is therefore not within the competence of the police to decide whether a substantiated report of an animal welfare violation should be recorded or not. Where there are concrete indications, a criminal investigation must be conducted by the law enforcement authorities (police). The primary responsibility for the subsequent determination of whether an animal protection criminal offence has actually been committed and how an offender may be penalised then rests with the cantonal investigative authorities and courts.

The Graubünden Cantonal Police is aware of the incident on Saturday. However, the Office for Hunting and Fishing is responsible. «The police have nothing to do with this", a media spokesperson tells Blick. The game warden, who must be called in such cases, also declined to comment on the incident to the journalist.

Without knowledge of all the circumstances, it is difficult to understand why the police apparently stated that they had nothing to do with this matter. It is correct that in cases of violations of hunting regulations, the Office for Hunting and Fishing is the responsible supervisory authority. The mistreatment of the dog and the roe deer, however, constitutes violations of animal welfare legislation and does indeed fall within the competence of the police.

Apparently these hobby hunters are neither well trained nor do they possess a sound moral compass.

When it comes to hunting and hobby hunters in particular, it is essential that the public pays very close attention. Nowhere else is there so much manipulation through falsehoods and fake news.Violence and lies are two sides of the same coin. Recreational hunting has been nothing but a permanently costly construction site, patchwork, and bone of contention for politics, forestry and agriculture, public administrations, the judiciary, health insurers, insurance companies, animal welfare, environmental and nature conservation organizations, the police, federal authorities, the media, and so on for decades.

Any other organization with so much criminal energy would have long since been targeted by the federal prosecutor's office!

Current criminal offenses committed by hobby hunters in Switzerland are listed here: Link