Tortured to Death
A barn in Canton Zurich. A quiet place, shattered by extreme violence. What two juveniles perpetrated against defenseless rabbits in a single night raises one of the most fundamental questions of animal protection law: When does violence against animals become a warning signal that society and the justice system must take seriously?
In episode 7 of the true-crime podcast «TierCrime with VanDam», the two lawyers Damaris Kiefer and Vanessa Gerritsen analyze another documented case from Switzerland.
Dami asks questions. Vani provides context. And together they expose how quickly animal suffering is trivialized when the perpetrators are young and the victim has no voice.
The Case
Kicking, beating. Fire. The escalation of that night should have raised questions early on that go far beyond the crime scene. What could be dismissed as a "boys' prank" is in reality a multi-stage act of targeted violence against defenseless beings. The podcast shows how such incidents often remain invisible in Swiss animal protection enforcement, even though animal protection has constitutional status in Switzerland.
Legal Assessment
In this episode, Vani examines four crucial areas of tension: juvenile criminal law vs. animal protection law and the question of which law applies and how it truly protects victims; the distinction between torturous and willful killing with significant consequences for sentencing; perpetrator-centredness vs. victim protection and why animal suffering is often barely visible in verdicts; as well as sentencing and signal effect when the punishment remains small despite great suffering.
Violence as an early warning signal
Research and practice show: animal cruelty by young people is rarely an isolated phenomenon. The podcast 'TierCrime mit VanDam' makes visible how animal cruelty is trivialized in the supposed 'land of animal welfare' and deliberately focuses on information rather than sensation. Episode 7 poses the question many shy away from: When is violence against animals the beginning of something bigger that no one wanted to see?
More on this in the dossier: Hunting and animal protection
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