In Switzerland, It Was Previously Allowed to Cut Dogs' Vocal Cords That Disturbed Neighbors, and Flushing the Toilet at Night May Become a Police Matter

In Switzerland, It Was Previously Allowed to Cut Dogs’ Vocal Cords That Disturbed Neighbors, and Flushing the Toilet at Night May Become a Police Matter

Written by Roberta Souza

Published on 20/01/2026 at 13:05

Fonte: Ia

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Switzerland Is World-Renowned For Its Organization, Quality Of Life And Safety. But Behind That Image Of An Almost Perfect Country, There Are Rules And Laws So Rigid That They Often Shock Foreigners — Especially Brazilians. Some Of Them Seem Exaggerated, But Are Taken Very Seriously In Day-To-Day Life.

When talking about Switzerland, the image that comes to mind is usually that of an organized, quiet, safe country with a very high quality of life. What many people don’t imagine is that this almost perfect standard is sustained by extremely rigid rules, some of which are so uncommon that they shock foreigners — especially Brazilians.

In practice, living in Switzerland means accepting a set of laws and customs that directly interfere with daily life, from using the bathroom to the behavior of pets.

Silence Is Taken Very Seriously — Perhaps Too Seriously For Some

One of the first surprises for those arriving in the country is the so-called noise laws. In many Swiss regions, activities considered trivial in Brazil can lead to formal complaints from neighbors and even police intervention. Flushing the toilet, taking a shower, or making excessive noise after 10 PM can be interpreted as disturbing the peace.

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Even Dogs Are Subject To The Rules

The strictness does not apply only to people. Dogs cannot bark constantly in Switzerland. A noisy animal is seen as the direct responsibility of the owner, who can be penalized if it disturbs the neighborhood. The result is curious: you can hardly hear dogs barking on the streets.

Moreover, Swiss legislation prohibits social animals from living alone. This applies to:

dogs
guinea pigs
fish
parrots

Having only one animal can be considered cruelty due to isolation.

Hygiene Rules That Surprise Foreigners

Another point that causes astonishment is the extreme concern with domestic hygiene. In some regions, urinating standing up inside the house is strongly discouraged, on the grounds that splashes can cause dirt and noise. Although it is not a written national law, it is a widely accepted — and respected — social norm.

These details show how collective living is taken seriously in the country, even when it means giving up habits considered normal in other parts of the world.

Weapons Allowed, Minimal Violence

Interestingly, while daily life is filled with restrictions, Switzerland allows citizens to own firearms. Still, the country records extremely low rates of gun violence. For the Swiss, control is not in absolute prohibition, but in discipline, training, and individual responsibility.

This logic is repeated in other areas of social life: clear rules, constant oversight, and a strong collective sense.

A Country Prepared For Everything

Since the 1960s, Swiss legislation requires that all citizens have access to bomb shelters. The country has sufficient infrastructure to protect more than 100% of the population in case of a nuclear emergency, with tunnels and underground structures spread across cities, residential buildings, and even parking lots.

This level of preparedness reinforces Switzerland’s image as a country that takes security and planning to the extreme.

Strange For Some, Normal For Those Who Live There

For many foreigners, these rules seem exaggerated or even absurd. However, it is no coincidence that Switzerland constantly ranks among the safest, most organized, and happiest countries in the world. For the Swiss, the price of tranquility is precisely the strict adherence to rules — even those that seem too minor.

The cultural shock is real, but for those who adapt, the result is a predictable, quiet, and highly functional daily life.

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In Switzerland, It Was Previously Allowed to Cut Dogs’ Vocal Cords That Disturbed Neighbors, and Flushing the Toilet at Night May Become a Police Matter

Silence Is Taken Very Seriously — Perhaps Too Seriously For Some

Even Dogs Are Subject To The Rules

Hygiene Rules That Surprise Foreigners

Weapons Allowed, Minimal Violence

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Strange For Some, Normal For Those Who Live There

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In Switzerland, It Was Previously Allowed to Cut Dogs’ Vocal Cords That Disturbed Neighbors, and Flushing the Toilet at Night May Become a Police Matter

Silence Is Taken Very Seriously — Perhaps Too Seriously For Some

Even Dogs Are Subject To The Rules

Hygiene Rules That Surprise Foreigners

Weapons Allowed, Minimal Violence

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Strange For Some, Normal For Those Who Live There

Mother and daughter build a 70 m² house with more than 8,000 discarded glass bottles and impress with their creativity; known as the Casa de Sal, the property is located on Itamaracá Island, in Pernambuco.

Libya built over 4,000 kilometers of underground pipelines to bring water from the Sahara to coastal cities in a project that the government itself called the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Desert sand, previously discarded for being too smooth for concrete, becomes an ecological brick in the United Arab Emirates, dispensing with Portland cement, curing at room temperature, and attempting to transform dunes useless for construction into raw material for a new arid engineering.

He transformed an abandoned plastic water tank into an underground house in the “hobbit hole” style, using only repurposed pallet wood, without heavy machinery or expensive labor.

Toyota launches “family hybrid van” with 7 or 8 seats, 1.8 hybrid engine, fuel consumption of up to 23.8 km/l, and a price equivalent to about R$ 104,000 without taxes, below the Tiggo 8 Pro Plug-in Hybrid sold in Brazil: meet the Noah Hybrid 2026 in Japan.

China transforms desert-devastated area into the world’s largest artificial forest, planting trees for 60 years, blocking sand that reached Beijing, and creating a “green lung” of 92,000 hectares in a region once considered lost.

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