TierCrime Podcast: Animal Cruelty in the Bernese Jura

What authorities find there raises fundamental questions. Not only about the why, but especially about how long.

In the new episode of TierCrime with VanDam, it's not about a single incident, but about a condition. About animals that are completely dependent. And about people who bore responsibility but did not act.

The case exemplifies how silent animal suffering can be. Especially where animals have no voice, where no neighbors look and where controls are absent. Precisely such constellations are at the center of the episode.

Dami investigates where the legal and moral boundary lies. When does ignorance become a criminal offense? Whether mere inaction already constitutes animal cruelty. And why massive suffering is so rarely reflected in sentencing. These questions touch on central problems in Swiss animal protection law and in official practice, as they repeatedly become visible in cases of animal cruelty in Switzerland.

Vani provides legal and systemic analysis of the case. The focus is on animal cruelty by omission, the so-called guarantor status of animal keepers, the distinction between abuse and neglect, and the reality of sentencing. It becomes particularly clear how frequently invisible animal suffering in small animals and reptiles is overlooked or trivialized.

The case from the Bernese Jura is representative of a structural problem. Authorities often intervene late. Inspections are patchy. Sanctions remain mild. Suffering is administered rather than prevented. This shows precisely why animal neglect should be taken more seriously under the law.

TierCrime with VanDam tells true cases of animal cruelty from Switzerland. For the animals who have no voice. And for a public that must look before suffering becomes normal.

The next episode deals with hunting.

Dossier: Hunting and Animal Welfare