Foundation Board / Counsellor

Just do it...

Jog around in the mud on cow pastures and repair fences, catch and relocate chickens or renovate kennels and cat shelters - the SUST does it all...

Tons of donated material washed and disinfected, sorted and then distributed to needy animal shelters or owners at home and abroad - SUST does it all...

Training interested animal owners, instructing motivated employees, educating and informing the general public - SUST does it...

Neuterin feral and farm cats, thus limiting the population of sick and suffering animals and optimizing the living conditions of healthy ones - SUST does it...

The teams of the SUST have again given their full commitment this year. In countless hours, the diligent helpers have worked hard, trained themselves further and put their spare time at the service of a good cause. My appreciation is thus certain, and the boundless joy and gratitude of the recipient is also motivating them to do new things all the time.

This year there was no shortage of aid and fundraising activities and I would like to thank you, dear patrons, for your support: without your help, our activities would not be possible. Dear patrons, they form the foundation on which we at SUST can build so many good things. I promise you that we will continue to do our utmost for the coming year. True to the motto of not only talking about grievances and need for help, but also actively fighting against them and working energetically - just do it!

Dr. med. vet. Janina Werner Heer, Member of the Foundation Board

Pets improve our quality of life, increase our happiness and prolong our lives. Any animal lover who keeps animals himself will confirm this. In recent years, the scientific community has also shown that pets improve our psychological and physical well-being.

For most pet owners, it is therefore a matter of course to thank their own pets for these qualities by caring for them. Unfortunately, many animals have to do without this: because they were born as street dogs, live as wild stray cats or are given away as a renunciation animal, because they did not meet the expectations of the pet owner.

It is my concern to help these animals: to give them a new home or a better life on the street and to prevent further uncontrolled multiplication of dog and cat strays by castration. But we can also improve a lot by providing financial and material support for animal shelters and specialists locally in Germany and abroad. Just as well as through training and further education of volunteers, so that they can put their expertise and commitment to good use.

Therefore, as a member of the Foundation Board and voluntary helper, I support the SUST, which tackles the problems at their roots through its animal welfare work.

Thanks to you, dear patrons, SUST, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2015, will be able to reduce or even prevent animal suffering in the long term. Because our animals deserve it. Many thanks for your support

Dr. med. vet. Katharina Staub, Member of the Foundation Board

Together we are strong...

The Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare is based on four pillars:

    Evaluation and optimisation of animal shelters at home and abroad
    Planning and execution of neutering campaigns
    The training and further education of specialists in Switzerland and worldwide
    Informing and raising public awareness of animal welfare issues

Every day, our employees are committed to improving the living conditions for stray animals and residents of animal shelters, rescue stations or sanctuaries. They are available to advise and assist with the implementation of projects and the planning of assignments, or they can help to implement them directly on site.

In order to prepare our helpers optimally for their assignment, training and further education is at the forefront. In numerous courses, the animal welfare activists learn how to handle animals with little socialized and traumatized animals in an optimal way and learn the most important medical basics in order to be able to carry out adequate care in an emergency. They are also trained psycho-logically and communicatively in order to cope with the often demanding situations in the best possible way.

Once again, it is our diligent helpers who carry the principles of SUST to the outside world and make them known to the general public.

However, the assignments at home and abroad as well as the numerous projects are only possible thanks to your generous donations: Your support is the basis of our work and we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Not all of our helpers are born craftsmen or have completed a training as animal keepers or project managers. But everyone uses their energy and leisure time to reduce the suffering of animals with their individual abilities. Often it is small steps that ultimately lead to success and everyone - you as a benefactor, our helpers and I as a coach, head of operations and foundation council member - has contributed to this in their own way. Together we are strong... and we will do everything in our power to remain so in the future.

Dr. med. vet. Janina Werner Heer, Member of the Foundation Board

As you can see in the current annual report, SUST has once again achieved a great deal this year: numerous animal shelters in Switzerland have benefited from SUST's work. A whole team of volunteers travels for one day on these assignments. The helpers are already highly motivated in the morning. Neither cold, wind, rain nor the glowing sun reduces the motivation of the helpers. Depending on the situation, a turtle enclosure is erected outside, trees are cut, fences are repaired or newly erected, animal enclosures are renovated or enlarged. Consultation discussions are held with the animal shelter managers. Often there is also a veterinarian, who takes care of possible veterinary concerns. The volunteers are not only animal friends who are very hands-on, but also the theoretical training is essential. The helpers are trained and prepared for the various assignments in regular training courses.

The collection of materials was also a great success this year. The SUST collects all year round animal utensils that are no longer needed. In autumn, the collection campaign is supported by a large specialist pet shop, which collects used or new animal articles together with SUST in its shops, which animal lovers no longer need. This year, the campaign brought together an incredible 30 tons of material. The large warehouses of the SUST were filled with articles that could be distributed to animal shelters and animal rescue centres in Switzerland and abroad.

As in previous years, SUST supported the neutering of stray or abandoned cats in Switzerland and the castration of street dogs and cats abroad in 2014.

At the Dogs military in Rifferswil - a great fun course for dogs and their owners - a lot of money was collected for animal protection projects.

In Romania, the construction of an animal shelter was financed. The planning was adapted to the needs and conditions on site: now the animal rooms can be heated in the freezing cold winter season, suitable rooms are available for medical care and animal feed can now be stored dry. All this was not possible in the previous rooms of the animal shelter, which not only made the work of the animal protectionists more difficult, but also worsened the well-being of the animals.

Not to forget the many missions abroad: during at least one week, experienced SUST helpers support animal shelters abroad. The team's veterinarians take care of the treatment and neutering of the animals. But also the renovation of the facilities, advising the caregivers or discussions with the local authorities are supposed to support the animal protectionists in their difficult work. And a lot more has been achieved: direct help, laying hens action, campaigns, media appearances,... all with the goal of animal welfare work that is sustainable.

Without your help, dear patrons, SUST would not have been able to implement all the projects this year. I would like to thank you not only as a member of the Foundation Board for your support, but also on behalf of the animals. Thank you very much!

SUST... I like it!  

Welcome to the anniversary year, SUST celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. But that doesn't mean she's not old-fashioned, on the contrary. As in previous years, SUST was again active on the most diverse fronts in 2014.  

In Switzerland, various working days were organised in various animal shelters and sanctuaries, renovated, built and after a thorough clean-up operation, countless pallets of donated material were redistributed.  

Numerous projects abroad have also benefited from financial support or direct local emergency aid. In the east of Europe, SUST was particularly active last year, helping to set up and optimise several animal shelters and carrying out countless neutering campaigns in various cities.  

In addition, SUST was represented at various events with informative lectures and, in addition to its public presence, had as usual a special focus on the internal training of its helpers.  

True to our guiding principle, we will once again this year do everything in our power to continue the fight against animal suffering at home and abroad. And with your support, we will succeed. Because not only I, but you also like the SUST.  

Dr. med. vet. Janina Werner Heer

This is a guiding principle that we at SUST keep reminding ourselves of. The daily struggle for our principles is not easy and sometimes we come up against limits which cannot be overcome even with much good will. Different views on animal welfare, foreign mentality, personnel or financial constraints, lack of or inadequate infrastructure, the list of obstacles could be widened at will.

Being exposed to mud and dirt and the whims of nature and not losing motivation is sometimes difficult, but it also encourages you not to give up and carry on. Especially if you are surrounded by people and animals, who don't have to work for a few days under sometimes difficult circumstances like the teams, but spend their whole lives in this way. Why? Because our efforts mean that at least for a few of us there is a chance that their living conditions will improve.

We are all optimists and we will never achieve our ultimate goal of reducing animal suffering worldwide. But with a lot of commitment and thanks to you, we are able to provide relief on our missions in Switzerland and abroad.

We fight for this every day, with action, with words, with material and not least with the help of your donations.

Thank you for your support.

Dr. med. vet. Janina Werner Heer

Animal welfare aid is provided at many different levels. The advice and construction quality of animal shelters is just as important as the animal-friendly husbandry of zoo animals and farm animals and the medical care of sick animals as the professional transport of an accidented horse. Maladministration in animal welfare is largely caused by ignorance, financial bottlenecks and neglect or ignorance of obvious problems. Fortunately, animal cruelty caused by malicious, active hand application to animals has become rare in our country due to a sensitised population and numerous animal welfare institutions and organisations.
But a look abroad, especially at Romania, last year showed us a deeply repulsive and inhumane image. The fact that many countries, especially their big cities, have to struggle with an overpopulation of dogs and cats is a well-known fact, but how to deal with stray dogs without owners is another matter. The decree issued in Romania to be allowed to kill abandoned dogs, whether sick or healthy, pregnant or lactating, after only fortnightly admission in an animal shelter, caused real horror in large sections of the population at home and abroad. Employees of the Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare had permission to visit a so-called "slaughterhouse". The foundation did not remain idle: the activities that had already existed for years in various regions of Romania were immediately intensified and expanded in the form of neutering campaigns, feed and material supplies as well as constructive discussions with local politicians. This emergency aid was only possible thanks to a large loyalty rally, which you, esteemed benefactors, provided us with in the form of donations. We are very grateful for your generous financial support to fight the misery of dogs in Romania. The numerous reports in our foundation newspaper "animal flash" testify to all other assignments in Germany and abroad. We continue to count on their donations, which will be used for the benefit of our animals.
The Foundation Board would like to thank Susy Utzinger and her team for their great commitment and additional courageous efforts in Romania. As President, I wish the Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare and its competent office continued success.
Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare
Prof. Rico Thun
President of the Foundation Board

Stray dogs and cats that reproduce uncontrollably, are ill and are sometimes killed cruelly: many people think that this is a scenario that happens in many regions abroad and fortunately does not occur in Switzerland.

But if we take a closer look, we also find stray animals in Switzerland: cats. Especially in rural areas there are cat populations that reproduce uncontrollably. Barns, garden houses or farms offer a safe shelter for the undemanding animals. Mice, a bowl of milk or maybe even some cat food will secure the food. And so it is possible without any problems that a female litter throws 4-5 kittens twice a year, which are often sick but still reproduce after 6 months. The best measure is to capture the animals, neuter them and release them in their habitual environment.

I work as a small animal doctor in a rural area where there are many such wild stray cats. Neutration - a simple solution, unfortunately a goal with many hurdles.

What are the problems? First of all, individuals or farmers must be convinced of the advantages of castration. Costs are the next problem. Even though castration is a comparatively inexpensive operation, 10 cats can quickly collect costs in the 4-digit range. Often farmers or private individuals do not understand why they should spend so much money on cats that they have not bought themselves. The next difficulty is to get the cats to the vet: they are usually shy and freeing up their powers when trying to capture them. In addition, all the cats of the population have to be neutered in order to deal with the problem in the long term.

Thanks to the support of SUST, we are able to overcome these obstacles more easily until neutering: The SUST contributes to the costs, so that we can offer neutering for such cases very cheaply. It provides cat traps so that the animals can be captured gently and stress-free. The SUST also covers unexpected additional costs (e. g. additional medical treatment). We regularly receive food donations for committed people who have participated in the neutering campaigns. So I was able to neuter countless wild cats with my practice team in the last few years and to feed and pass on' surplus' kittens. I also regularly receive positive feedback from farmers and private individuals who confirm that the cats are now much healthier and no new strays have arrived. Many thanks to all the benefactors of SUST! Only thanks to your support was it possible to achieve a lot in the past and hopefully to contribute even more to the prevention of the cat misery in the future!

Dr. med. vet. Katharina Dust
Veterinary surgeon and member of the SUST Foundation Board

You have supported SUST financially and made it possible for us to carry out numerous projects in Switzerland and abroad with your donation. Thanks to you, we have been able to provide much-needed help. Assistance in the form of logistical support or on-the-spot infrastructure development. However, medical interventions such as neutering campaigns and crop care were also carried out again.

Last year, you again donated tons of material to us, which we were able to distribute on pallets. Animal food, care products, leashes, collars, sleeping and transport baskets and much more have found a happy new owner.

You have sacrificed your free time to train yourself in animal welfare issues, to be actively involved in a mission or to share your expertise with us.

We would like to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts and hope that we can continue to count on your help.

We are not only craftsmen, merchants, service providers or academics, we are also animal welfare activists. We can be proud of this!

Dr. med. vet. Janina Werner Heer

Once again, the Susy Utzinger Animal Welfare Foundation can look back on a busy and successful year. The numerous assignments in Switzerland and abroad are evidenced by the detailed and interesting reports published in our foundation magazine "animal flash" during the course of the year. This includes the daily operations in animal shelters, which require SUST experts to have a great deal of specialist knowledge in various aspects. The team also works with great experience on the front line in the immediate aid and care of sick animals and is aware of the great responsibility to alleviate or even prevent unnecessary suffering and dubious grievances of our four-legged friends. No less important is the professional advisory activity, whether in the construction of animal shelters, the clarification of necessary measures of keeping and hygiene or in financial planning work to support animal protection associations and organizations for the implementation of their projects. In keeping with the Animal Welfare Act, the Susy Utzinger Animal Welfare Foundation also participates in the ongoing neutering campaigns so that the population of feral cats does not continue to grow and these animals have to be killed.

The few examples cited above show that active animal welfare requires the highest level of competence, experience and commitment. In order to ensure that the animal keepers are properly informed about the needs and characteristics of their animals, however, appropriately trained personnel are required - only in this way can knowledge be passed on. For this reason, SUST has been placing great emphasis on ensuring that all its employees receive ongoing training and further education and that the knowledge they acquire is constantly adapted to the latest research findings. However, attending continuing education events or inviting specialists for courses and seminars is not free of charge, and here we are obliged to thank you, dear patrons, for your generous financial support. We continue to count with pride on your donations and look to the future with confidence. Further training, education and information are our constant companions in the service of animal protection and for the benefit of our animals.

The Foundation Board would like to sincerely thank Susy Utzinger and her team for their tireless efforts under often difficult circumstances. We are pleased to be able to look forward to a well-functioning branch office as a guarantor for our foundation's purposes.

Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare

Prof. Rico Thun
President of the Foundation Board

It was Christmas Eve, in the warm sitting room there was festive Christmas music, outside the snow-covered landscape, surrounded by endless silence. After the singing of well-known Christmas carols, an interview with singer Paul Anka took place. When the speech came to his dogs during the conversation, I listened more carefully and was impressed by his words, when he spoke with conviction that animals also possess a soul. These words fit so well with the Christmas atmosphere and the Christ Child story in which humans and animals are treated as animated beings. The artist also told how he persuaded his friend Frank Sinatra not to give up when he wanted to leave the show business with the song "My way".

Animal soul and My way, these two strong mental pillars reminded me immediately of the Susy Utzinger Animal Welfare Foundation. For many years, the foundation has been committed to the noble task of helping numerous abandoned, sick and impoverished animals with a deeply wounded soul and giving them a better home. With this goal in mind, the foundation has made its own way from the very beginning and has been able to successfully complete many individual stages to date. Detailed descriptions of very different domestic and foreign animal welfare missions can be read in our foundation magazine animal flash. However, in order to continue on our path with conviction and to support future projects with success, we depend on your generous financial support and solidarity. We are very grateful to you for this.

But money alone is not enough to do a job; it requires a lot of staff, helpful volunteers, competent specialists and above all an active, well-functioning office. The Foundation Board would like to express its sincere thanks to Susy Utzinger and her team for their tireless efforts and their motivation and imaginative working methods.

Thanks to you, dear patrons, we have been able to reduce innumerable suffering and not only uncover grievances last year, but also to fight them to the best of our knowledge and belief. On our missions we have always experienced a lot of joy and gratitude as well as enormous readiness for action on the part of both the helpers and those directly affected.

Being an animal welfare activist does not only require a lot of motivation and a large portion of optimism. Active animal welfare is also associated with a large expenditure of time. The necessary technical know-how for the correct keeping and feeding of the patients, the knowledge of the various aspects of the necessary basic medical care and the adequate reaction in emergency situations are also elementary and unfortunately often underestimated.

Again and again we find out that committed animal welfare activists want to do a lot of good, but don't know how best to do it. For this reason, we have increasingly focused on the training and further education of volunteers and active animal welfare activists in the past year.

In the modular system, various training courses have been carried out: on the domestic and foreign parasite problem, on behaviour, procedure and the most important measures in emergency situations, on the basic knowledge of medicine for antibiotics and pain therapy, on the handling and carrying out of a basic examination, on the assessment of the state of health of an animal, on the preparation and monitoring of anaesthesia during an operation, also under field conditions, and last but not least on the most important hygienic principles and on occupational safety.

In addition to the theory, the participants were able to put the newly learned theoretical knowledge into practice and also had the opportunity to attend an operation live and to witness a neutering of a male dog. Under expert guidance, they learned how to handle difficult or aggressive animals, assess the respiratory and cardiovascular systems with pulse sensing and monitoring of the thorax, measure and assess the temperature correctly, and assisted in implanting a microchip or administering medication.

Field operations are not only a challenge for veterinarians, but also for the helpers, who are suddenly confronted with unexpected situations and circumstances. Sound training and the opportunity to refresh your knowledge over and over again give you the security and the necessary routine to be able to act adequately even in extreme situations. As in many areas, the principle applies here as well: practice makes perfect.

Being able to react correctly in different unpredictable situations can save lives and also greatly facilitate cooperation in general. That is why we will continue to strive to achieve the best possible results with simple means. Your donation makes our commitment possible. Thank you!

In Switzerland, animal welfare is now firmly established and plays an indispensable role in our society. Numerous animal welfare associations and organisations, such as the Susy Utzinger Animal Welfare Foundation, place protection, law and the dignity of animals at the centre of their activities. The Swiss Animal Welfare Act regulates the facts that cause pain, suffering or damage to animals. In this context, the question arises as to how long animal welfare has existed in Switzerland and how it has evolved over time.

I would like to mention Albert Schweitzer as the founder of the animal welfare idea, who in his work "Culture and Ethics" published in 1923 coined the maxim "Awareness of life". However narrow this term may be interpreted, it always reminds us of the supreme commandment to avoid inflicting pain, suffering and fear on living creatures. This Christian ethics of reverence for life was also embraced by numerous theologians, who in the 19th century in major Swiss cities (Berne, Zurich, Basel) committed themselves to animal welfare and founded animal protection associations. The main task was to uncover animal cruelty and establish criminal offences. In 1861, the Central Association of Swiss Animal Welfare Associations (now: Schweizer Tierschutz, STS) was founded. With the beginning of the 20th century, animal welfare became increasingly important, but there was a lack of a national authority to enact the numerous existing rules and directives. In 1978, the Parliament passed the first Swiss Animal Welfare Act, which came into force together with the ordinance in 1981. In 1991, the Animal Welfare Act was first revised and in 2003, the Civil Code stated that the "animal is not a matter". A further revision of the Animal Welfare Act and Ordinance came into force in 2008.

This brief historical review shows that animal welfare has been actively practiced in Switzerland for around 150 years and is of great importance in our society today for the protection of our four-legged friends. The Susy Utzinger Animal Welfare Foundation was only established in 2000, but what we have achieved over the past 10 years fills us with great pride. Just browse through the latest annual reports and you will be amazed at how many projects in Switzerland and abroad could be realized with a lot of expertise, commitment and diligence. The statistics for 2010 in the animal flash from March 2011 also speak for themselves. But we also know that all these activities were only possible thanks to your generous financial support. Dear patrons, with great hope and gratitude we continue to count on your donations, your trust and your solidarity, so that many animals can be helped in their predicament.

The Foundation Board would like to thank Susy Utzinger and her team for their great commitment. As head of the office, she not only demonstrates a high level of professional competence, but is also characterized by her flexible attitude and great organisational ability.

Susy Utziger Foundation for Animal Welfare

Prof. Dr. Rico Thun
President of the Foundation Board

Animals are dependent on our help, even or especially in economically bad times. I am therefore all the more grateful that many of you not only thought about yourself, but also showed a heart for animals in need in difficult financial times. Thank you very much!

The Susy Utzinger Animal Welfare Foundation has been known to me since childhood. My "only" financial support has given way to my seat on the Foundation Board and numerous active engagements at home and abroad. I encountered many - positive as well as negative - animal fates, gained insight into new cultures and was able to lay the foundation for new friendships.

In February I was part of a 16-strong task force that cleaned, tidied up and rebuilt the cat terminal in Gals. Numerous cats were combed out with our help, ears and eyes were cleaned and minor injuries were treated on the spot. Some were so shy that they could only be seen from a distance, others thankfully accepted the offered caresses. The cat terminal station serves as a contact point for old, chronically ill or behavioural cats, which can be offered an alternative to euthanasia.

Two projects were planned for May. On the one hand I spent another day in Gals, on the other hand I made my first stay abroad as part of the SUST. The privately run, semi-official dog shelter in Dubrovnik is the catchment basin for around 200 dogs. They live in large packs in large outdoor enclosures. Many of them suffer from leishmaniasis, an infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes, which affects the immune system of the sick dogs. The animals show either massive skin problems with eczema, open wounds and inflammations on the whole body or suffer from severe gastrointestinal problems with unquenchable diarrhoea. The ectoparasite problem, i. e. the external infestation with fleas, mites and other vermin, is also a major problem. All animals were covered with blood-sucking ticks, the puppies and weaker adult animals were already suffering from anaemia. The idyllic location on a hill above Dubrovnik cannot hide the infrastructural shortcomings: there is neither electricity nor running water, and since the operator is responsible for the entire home alone for most of the time, the personnel capacities are also massively limited. Their dedication to animals is enormous and admirable, but in such a case it is sometimes difficult to be as far away as necessary and to show objectivity for difficult decisions such as euthanasia of a seriously ill or suffering animal. What makes things more difficult is that the home is located in a former military area and, as a relic of the Kosovo war, the entire area is littered with ammunition and war waste. During the operation we not only treated all dogs against ticks and worms, but also disposed of kilos of waste and cleaned the enclosures. It is always amazing to see how much you can achieve as a five-person team in one day and how grateful the people on site are for the support. Thanks to the generous donations, we were able to equip the enclosures with new blankets and toys after the cleaning campaign. I sincerely hope that we have been able to lay the foundations for a successful renovation of the home in this beautiful place. The place as an emerging tourist destination needs such an institution and with the present project the most important step has been taken. I would like to return again and, in the midst of the pack of dogs, I would like to push ahead with the infarstructural expansion and the urgently needed basic medical care.

Shortly before Christmas I travelled to Hurghada, Egypt as part of a group of five. Just outside the city, in the middle of the desert, there is the Bluemoon Animal Center, a shelter for stray dogs, cats and most recently also donkeys. During one week we neutered, chipped, vaccinated and dewormed all animal shelter animals, many street dogs and also animals of private owners. The working conditions in the desert are not comparable to those here. Nevertheless, we were able to provide serious veterinary medicine even in the field under the simplest conditions. As in previous missions, the main task was to provide training and further education for the veterinary surgeon and other interested veterinarians on site. This cooperation with the local population is not always easy, but it is extremely important. They are the ones who take over the care of the animals in the shelter after our departure and continue the project. Often the ideas and work views are different and it takes some time to build up mutual trust and assess the skills of others. For me, it is a question of respect that as a foreign expert, I do not simply impose my ideas on the locals and thus push them to the head, but try to involve the local population and their views. Often you find the way to each other and thus the basis for an efficient cooperation.

For me, the unpaid work for animal welfare during my free time is just as much a part of everyday life as the daily work in a modern practice. I like the flexibility and the return to the essentials that need to be demonstrated when working in the field. A good team not only makes the work easier, but also helps with the emotional processing of the sometimes frightening pictures, which you find in the context of a relief project. Not everywhere, animals are treated with the same respect that has become a matter of course in Switzerland in recent years, or at least should have become so. Animals are not only a labour force, but especially abroad, and if they are no longer suitable for this purpose, they are "disposed of" for financial reasons. The generalized misery and many individual fates in front of my eyes and the boundless gratitude of the people on site motivate me to new missions again and again. Often it is supposed to be small things like a parasite treatment, a blanket for lying down or a filled pot of food that make the life of the animals so much more bearable.

In this sense, many more applications.

Susy Utzinger Foundation for Animal Welfare

Janina Werner
Board member and veterinarian