Switzerland has massively rejected a proposal to have lawyers representing all animals involved in court proceedings.

Around 70% of voters opposed the move in a referendum on the issue on Sunday. Zurich already provides lawyers for animals in cases of alleged animal cruelty but campaigners were trying to extend the provision to all of Switzerland’s 26 cantons.

Switzerland has a history of animal rights legislation that some would consider extreme. In 2008 researchers worried that a court ban on two primate experiments could threaten all basic research on animals in the country. The same year a government ethics committee also debated when research might become un-fundable for compromising the ‘dignity of plants’.

Having a lawyer specifically to represent animals in court seems to have been a step too far for most Swiss though.

“The Swiss people have clearly said our animal protection laws are so good we don’t need animal lawyers,” says Jakob Buechler, of the Christian People’s Party (SF1, via PA).

Before the vote last week Antoine Goetschel, currently Zurich’s only ‘animal advocate’, told the Guardian, “It can all lead to some interesting dilemmas. For example, what about the scientist who is trying to make a flea with 12 eyes? Who is representing the dignity of this creature?”

The referendum did pass a proposal to amend the constitution with regards human dignity in biomedical research. This sets the stage for a future reform aiming to ensure research can continue, while also ensuring protection for human subjects (details in German, comments in English from SwissInfo).

Image: photo by ianlord via Flickr under creative commons.