It is nice!! i have a pet in spain, and would like to bring it here for the summer, and i have the same dilema when thinking if bring it or not... what do i do if i go for a weekend?? it is great to create a group, i love dogs, and would love to take after some, when the owner is gone, etc...

Thanks for joining. We are still not many, but  bet the group will grow...

Just a reminder: if you have a pet, think about joining the Geneva pets' owners group. We can create a community of pets' owners or lovers, to support each other with pets sitting during short holidays, and any other pet related issue.

Hello, is your group only for people in the Geneva region? We will move to Switzerland in January, but are not quite sure yet exactly where (hopefully somewhere in the lake area). We have 4 dogs and hope to find a house somewhere that is suitable for them (and our two kids).

Hi Birgit,

I'm sure you have other priorities than dog related matters to select your future area ... but you may be very happy to learn that in beautiful Switzerland we must pay a yearly tax on dogs

For 4 dogs, depending in which village/town ("commune") of Geneva you will be living, you'll have to pay either chf 340.- or 680.- in total per year ...

Once you know where your house is located, you can call the local authorities ("mairie") and ask which rate this specific "commune" applies on dogs.

Yes, I realise that we have to pay dog's tax...:-( We have been living in East Africa for the last 13 years, where having many dogs is not a problem but rather the norm. Now, that we are moving back to Europe, we can't just leave them behind, especially for the sake of our kids (and it will cost an arm and a leg to ship them there aleady...).  To find a place close to a good public school for our kids is our priority (we are working from home, so no daily commuting for us), but as the schools seem to be good in most places the dogs are the limiting factor for our house hunt....

There is also a group on yahoo for Swiss dog owners.

http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/Dogs-Switzerland/

We also have four dogs (as well as a slew of other animals) and chose to live in France because we could get a good amount of land for a much better price than in Switzerland. And no dog take (that I'm aware of, anyway). Good luck with the move, Birgit!

Great to know it is not just us with such a 'huge' amount of dogs. I will need to check with the company if living in France would be an option. Thanks for your help.

If paying the dog tax in Switzerland is a problem for you, you should seriously think about the rest, food, vet, dog sitters, are very expensive also.

I realise it won't be cheap - not like where we are living now where it is easy and affordable (Africa). But I have now the responsibility for those dogs, my kids love them and it will make relocation much easier for them too. I also don't want to teach my kids that one can just abandon pets if they get inconvenient. So I will just have to make it work. Looks like we will be moving to Valais or Fribourg, taxes should be cheaper, and rent too. More left for dog food;-)

@ Paxxie: If you believe that a dog owner may consider the dog tax as a financial problem ... it's absurd. Every dog owner KNOWS the budget for a dog, tax being the smallest part of it. Not to mention that some dog owners have paid 100's up to 1000's of chf/euros for a pure breed dog.

As this forum is used mostly by expat people, it was relevant to mention the dog tax applied in Switzerland.

@ Birgit: so nice to hear that a dog owner is ready to make the maximum to keep his dogs ...
In Valais, it may be worse, as this canton was the first one to take strict action "against" dogs, and tax is chf 140.- in some places there (for 1 dog) ... For Fribourg, I don't know. But real estate should definitely be better their: cannot be worse than Geneva !
Also, if your dogs are above 25 kg, there are a few things to know (will explain, if needed).

@ Back to the tax problem in general: as personally involved in dog rescuing (had up to 10 dogs a few years ago), I've followed thoroughly the vote in 2008 on dog tax. Won't explain here all the stupid aspects of it, but the main point to remember is that a retired single person in Meinier is paying chf 250.-/year (for 2 dogs), while an active couple in Bardonnex is paying chf 130.-/year (idem): unfair + antisocial = stupid

Hi missdaisy

Thanks so much for your reply. It is encouraging to hear there are people with many dogs even in Switzerland.... It is so easy here, not just that there are no dog taxes, but the plots are huge (ours is 3 acres for the dogs and kids to run around) and we don't need dog sitters etc. That is why we "accumulated" so many dogs... But as you say, I think the dog tax is the smallest problem. As soon as we have found a dog friendly rental I will find out how much it is (the rental is our biggest problem right now)

It will cost allready a lot to just ship them, but I could not leave them behind.

I have not heard though of the "over 25 kg issue". Would you mind explaining? We have two Jack Russels, which are about 6 kg, but we also have a labrador, which will be over 25kg (need to weigh her) and one lab cross boerbul, which is over 50 kg....