Michael Cook at Salvo Magazine tells about the latest developments in the Swiss crusade for dignity:
The Swiss must be counted among the most dignified people on the planet. Now their parliament has decreed that Swiss goldfish, too, must be treated with dignity. And not because they are gold, but because they are fish. Beginning in September, a new law will set rigorous standards for the treatment of all “social animals.” Swiss aquariums must have an opaque side to allow the fish to live in a natural cycle of day and night. It will also be an offense to keep a lone goldfish, guinea pig, or budgerigar. Or one rhinoceros, apparently, because the law also covers pet rhinoceroses. . . .
So by the same reasoning that led them to protect fish, bureaucrats there are now thinking of expanding the boundaries of non-human dignity to include plants.
The Swiss Constitution requires respect for “the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms.” The body in charge of interpreting this Delphic phrase, the Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology, recently released a discussion paper about the dignity of plants. Its astonishing conclusions could become law in due course.
Among them is that “decapitation of wild flowers at the roadside without rational reason” is essentially a crime. In fact, the committee was unanimous in its agreement that any “arbitrary harm caused to plants [is] morally impermissible.” Genetic modification of plants would be permitted—but only if their “independence,” including their reproductive ability, is ensured. This could mean that producing sterile roses or seedless fruit will be an offense under Swiss law. . . .
Switzerland’s passion for the dignity of all creatures great and small, however, rings hollow in view of its treatment of human beings. It is one of the few countries in the world where assisted suicide is legal. The best-known agency for DIY euthanasia, a Zurich-based group called—what else?—Dignitas, recently opened its thanatorium in the same building as Switzerland’s biggest legal brothel. Surely that violates one of the numerous provisions in the constitution guaranteeing human dignity. As it is now, there seems to be about as much bureaucracy involved in killing a Swiss goldfish as there is in killing a human being. (Special chemicals are required, since flushing fish down the toilet has been deemed undignified.)
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