The Swiss really eat cats in secret at Christmas? We investigated a spine-chilling urban legend

In the 1990s, an animal welfare organization, SOS-Chats Noiraigue, began campaigning against the Swiss tradition of eating cats. Since then, the news has steadfastly held its ground in the media that, especially at Christmas, many in Switzerland prepare stewed cat with white wine, thyme, and rosemary because allegedly its taste is very similar to rabbit. But how much truth is there to this shocking story? As the saying goes, where there's smoke, there's fire...

According to Tomi Tomek, the founder of the organization, about 3% of Swiss people secretly eat cats or dogs. It’s unclear where and how this number was determined, but it seems that even this dubious rumor has some basis in reality. Today, we will talk about the cat eating habit is Switzerland.

It was indeed a tradition once

Even the proudest Swiss won’t deny that cat-eating was once a tradition in the country’s rural areas. To be completely honest, this was also the case in other parts of Europe, such as Belgium, Italy, France, or Spain. However, in most cases, necessity driven by wars or poverty forced people into such practices. This was likely the case in Switzerland in its early days too.

However, in the featured country of our article, a handful of people for some reason don’t want to give up this tradition. According to our best information, the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office states that the sale of cat and dog meat is prohibited in Switzerland. At the same time people can legally consume their own animals. In 1993, the parliament rejected a law amendment aimed at protecting dogs and cats from human consumption, stating they didn’t want to restrict people’s eating habits. How considerate… But the organization doesn’t give up. In 2014, for example, they gathered 16,000 signatures to ban the consumption of cat meat.

The scandal grows, and tempers rise

The sensational news continued to grow, as the BBC, The Times, and The Washington Post published articles on the topic. These, in turn, elicited angry responses. For instance, Switzerland’s ambassador to New Zealand wrote a letter to the editor of the London Times. Not only disputing the 3% figure but also the claim itself:

“This story has been invented by an animal rights extremist and made it into London’s The Times newspaper. Here are the facts: selling, buying or trading cat or dog meat is illegal in Switzerland. In any country, some primitive individuals may eat their own or stolen pets, but I categorically state that this is not at all a widespread Swiss habit and that the 3% (that would make 130,000 Kiwis) are totally made up.

Just like New Zealanders, we Swiss love our cats and dogs and are proud of our native breeds, among them the well-known Bernese Mountain Dogs and St Bernards. As for the ”wife of a Swiss ambassador” who, according to the article, explained the disgusting habit with the ”high price of Swiss meat”, this person does not exist. I have checked.”

In Switzerland cat eating is a way to surplus offsprings

However, Tomi Tomek, the organization’s founder, stands by his position. He claims to have visited rural areas where a woman even showed him a recipe revealing how to prepare newborn kittens most delicately. The rural people, to control surplus offspring, chose not to opt for sterilization but for culinary skills. So the former option was financially unaffordable for these simple people.

The animal rights organization achieved some success in 2013, but unfortunately, not the ultimate victory yet. Following a successful campaign, they managed to amend the law regarding the trade of cat fur. Approaching the end of 2022, it is very hard to imagine considering cat-eating a normal act, but rural, isolated traditions, attachment, and necessity, in a strange combination, may allow such condemned practices to persist.