Animal Trust Switzerland

Animals Asia has been generously supported by Katharina Büttiker and Animal Trust, Switzerland for many years now.

Businesswoman, gallery owner and passionate animal welfare campaigner, Katharina founded Animal Trust in 2000, along with like-minded individuals — journalist Erich Gysling and Mark Rissi, internationally renowned for his cinematic animal documentaries.

Animal Trust Founder and Board of Trustees President, Katharina Büttiker.

Animal Trust is a non-profit organisation that works as an advocate for animals in politics, media and business and for long-term animal welfare. The organisation works to promote the welfare of often exploited and tortured animals, and ensure their rights. This task requires a great deal of personal commitment and financial resources.

Working with a minimum of bureaucracy, Animal Trust is a small, flexible group of independent people from different walks of live such as business, politics and culture. The aim is to promote the cause of animal protection with the help of committed private individuals.

Erich Gysling, Founder and President of the Advisory Board.

Animal Trust pursues its own projects while working with many other animal welfare organisations to support their most important projects at home and abroad.

These organisations include Animals Asia and its campaign to end bear bile farming. Katharina and Animal Trust members promote the campaign through bear sponsorship, among other things, and raise much-needed and generous funding through their incredible events. Read about their latest event here on Jill’s Blog.

Mark Rissi, Founder and Advisory Board Member.

Other Animal Trust projects:
For several autumn seasons, Animal Trust has launched a campaign against fur with posters in Zurich and winter sports locations and ski resorts, along with advertisements and flyer distribution campaigns.

On the initiative of Animal Trust, in autumn 2013 the stop-fur campaign www.stopp-pelz.ch was launched by several Swiss animal protection organizations (Vier Pfoten, LSCV La Ligue suisse contre la vivisection, pro animali and Animal Trust) which merged their resources and capacities for this purpose.

The aim of the campaign is to raise public awareness of animal suffering and the ecological nonsense, which is connected with the production and trade of fur.

The campaign contains posters in Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lucerne and various winter sports locations and ski resorts.

In many European countries the production of Foie Gras is banned, as in Switzerland, but not the consumption. For many years now, Animal Trust has been pressing restaurants, hotels, gourmet shops, delicatessen stores and major distributors to stop serving, selling and trading in Foie Gras. Some success has been achieved, with Foie Gras no longer served at the banquet of the Zurich Opera Ball and in a well-known hotel in Zurich.

The Foundation „Hofgut Braunenberg” (www.hofgut-braunenberg.com) in Stockach, Germany, cares for abused and abandoned donkeys, ponies and horses. Animals Trust helps and supports this organisation which is also a refuge for other species.

Read more about this dedicated group on the Animal Trust website and Facebook page.

Animal Trust, Board of Trustees:
Katharina Büttiker, President
Dr. Urs E. Kohler, Vice-President
Ted Scapa

Advisory Board:
Erich Gysling, President of the Advisory Board
Kurt Aeschbacher
Hortense Anda-Bührle
Dr. Sonja A. Buholzer
Dr. Thomas Coppetti
Viktor Giacobbo
Gitti Hug
Prof. Dr. Georg Kohler
Dr. Gabrielle Mekler
Ursula Ott
Mark Rissi
Dr. Christian Ruck
Dr. Albert Schellenberg
Ruth Schmidheiny
Dr. h.c. Moritz Suter
Dr. Heinz Zimmer