"For safety and hygiene, not against dogs"

For a year now, dogs have been allowed in the unattended bathing facilities of the city of Zug. An Oberwil resident wants to change this, and has launched an individual initiative.

Dogs are allowed to romp around in the unattended bathing facilities of the city of Zug, provided they are on a leash. In June 2019, the city government (Stadtregierung) quietly changed the rules regarding the use of the lakeside resorts – these rules are part of the so-called ‘Regulations for the Use of Public Facilities’. Dogs are thereby allowed in the bathing facilities (Badis) of the City of Zug that operate without a bathing attendant (Bademeister) – Trubikon, the Tellenörtli, the Männerbadi in Siehbach and the Brüggli.

There is a line obligation, however, both on land and in the water. But this only applies during the bathing season, as published in the Official Journal (Amtsblatt). The bathing regulations in the supervised lakeside resorts of Seeliken and Strandbad Zug, however, allow no dogs during operating hours.

Hygiene and space as the main arguments
The fact that our four-legged friends are allowed in the unattended bathing facilities met with resistance a year ago. In a letter to the editor of this newspaper, Xaver Hürlimann from Oberwil vented his anger at that time:

"There are toddlers playing at the water's edge, and bathing and barking dog are now also allowed. I don’t even like to think about where these dogs do their ‘business’. A truly unpredictable and extremely unpleasant situation for all bathers.”

The Oberwil resident has submitted a individual initiative to the city council (Stadtrat) calling for the bathing regulations to be amended to prevent dogs from entering public bathing facilities, whether supervised or not.

In addition to bathers, dogs are also allowed in the Tellenörtli facility in Oberwil – provided they are on a leash.

Xaver Hürlimann thereby wants to return to the regime that applied in the city of Zug before the city council changed the rules last summer. "The city simply waved the regulations through a year ago. Only now, in hindsight, can we see the consequences," says Hürlimann. He regularly visits the lakeside resort of Tellenörtli in Oberwil, and has noticed that many dog owners do not adhere to the line obligation. "But even if the dogs are leashed, they can move relatively freely on a five-metre-long leash. They disturb other people who are picnicking, running over the clean bath towels and marking surrounding trees. It's just unhygienic."

Campaign for safety and hygiene, not against dogs
In Oberwil alone, a whole group of people are annoyed by the four-legged friends in the bathing facilities, according to Hürlimann,. The problem will also be accentuated in the high season, because many residents will be spending their holidays in Switzerland this year. "If the lakeside resort is already full anyway, there is no room for jumping dogs." In the meantime, even dog owners from other municipalities or cantons have started coming to the Zug lakeside resorts, because they have heard that you can take your four-legged friends there. "That cannot be the goal of the new regulations." It should also ne noted that dogs are not allowed in most other bathing establishments, including those in the neighbouring cantons.

Xaver Hürlimann emphasizes that his initiative is not fundamentally directed against dogs. "My main concern is safety, hygiene and cleanliness in public bathing facilities."

Dogs already have many opportunities for cooling down in the lake. For example, there is a place where dogs are allowed to swim right next to the Tellenörtli bathing area in Oberwil, south of the Kreuz restaurant.

The handling of dogs, as well as whether and where they must be kept on a leash, is a constant topic of conversation in the city and canton. Zug is very liberal, and appeals to personal responsibility. In 2015, for example, the parliament rejected a cantonal law regarding dogs. While in cantons such as Lucerne, Nidwalden and Zurich a dog law stipulates that the four-legged friends must stay away from swimming pools, playgrounds or break places, this is a matter for the municipalities in Zug. Only a few individual Zug municipalities have regulations regarding dogs.