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GSTAADLIFE<br />

No. <strong>16</strong> August 18 20<strong>06</strong> www.gstaadlife.com<br />

Gstaad Symposium: little chance<br />

for improvement in the Middle East<br />

The sixth annual Symposium in the Gstaad<br />

Palace hosted around 100 guests on Wednesday<br />

August <strong>16</strong>. Arnaud de Borchgrave’s wit and<br />

insightful comments about the dilemma in the<br />

Middle East, and the three course meal that<br />

followed were well-received by the international<br />

audience. At the end of the efficientlyorganized<br />

event, Taki Theodoracopulos, the<br />

show master, could <strong>no</strong>t resist giving a sneak<br />

preview of what was in store for next year:<br />

“an even better speaker than Arnaud.”<br />

“This is the sixth symposium and the first time<br />

we can welcome a guest speaker for the second<br />

time.” With these words Theodoracopulos<br />

welcomed the reputed journalist Arnaud de<br />

Borchgrave to the Gstaad Symposium 20<strong>06</strong>. de<br />

Borchgrave left a lasting impression at his<br />

last appearance in 2001. Only two weeks before<br />

9/11 he foresaw the threat terrorism was about<br />

to pose. With this record, and his 50 years of<br />

experience in foreign affairs, the audience was<br />

prepared for a<strong>no</strong>ther groundbreaking talk,<br />

themed: “The Middle East; seeds of global<br />

conflict.” The following is an overview of what<br />

de Borchgrave had to say:<br />

Changing fabric of society<br />

The media’s approach to society has been<br />

changing. A journalist simply has to be able to<br />

“steal ideas, have a little literary k<strong>no</strong>wledge and be<br />

charming.” The dumbing down of the media has<br />

in turn caused the dumbing down of the people.<br />

There is a “constant melodrama of constant<br />

triviality.” It seems to have had an effect on society,<br />

letting “the 10 commandments become an issue of<br />

multiple-choice.” At the same time new trends<br />

have been emerging on the internet. Any blogger<br />

can <strong>no</strong>w “be heard if he has an attitude.” They<br />

bring out the private sphere to the public,<br />

blurring the margins between the two. “One <strong>no</strong><br />

IN THIS ISSUE<br />

A night to remember PAGE 3<br />

Sports / Talking point PAGE 4<br />

Gstaad Film PAGE 5<br />

Cats and Dogs PAGE 7<br />

longer k<strong>no</strong>ws when one is on record.” This new<br />

attitude to information has pushed democracy into<br />

crisis: “only those who lie can be re-elected. Truth<br />

is Washington’s second language.”<br />

Move to Islamic radicalism<br />

The simplification of issues in the media to a<br />

matter of right and wrong, and the emergence<br />

of the internet have had a strong impact on<br />

Muslims. Since 9/11 there has been a surge of<br />

“jihadism.” Online jihadism is particularly<br />

threatening. The internet can reveal how to<br />

compose bombs with household products, but<br />

also sign-up locations of radicals and safe<br />

mosques. Tech<strong>no</strong>logy is facilitating recruiters,<br />

and strengthening the networking of radicals.<br />

This has caused their number to jump. “200,000<br />

of 1.8 million British Muslims were in favor of<br />

the bombings in London, 600,000 would prefer<br />

Islamic law to British law, and the vast majority<br />

believe that the war on terror is actually the war<br />

on Islam.”<br />

The crossfire<br />

These figures speak in clear terms. de Borchgrave<br />

argued that, “The clinch between Israelis and<br />

Palestinians is the source of most problems in the<br />

Middle East, and has established the breeding<br />

ground for Islamists.” Looming over events in<br />

the region, the US propels this. “For Iran and<br />

Syria, Israel is simply a battalion of the US” – an<br />

immediate threat. “There is a human propensity<br />

towards totalitarianism in menacing situations,”<br />

which is why Hitler, Stalin, and <strong>no</strong>w jihad<br />

leaders have gained so much ground. “The aim<br />

of the jihad is to get back what others took,”<br />

namely Israel. Indeed, “Hizbollah’s cause can be<br />

compared to the ANC’s in white South Africa, or<br />

the US position in its war of independence.”<br />

Whilst the resolve of radicals has been strengthening,<br />

“Israel’s invincibility has been diminishing.”<br />

Its wars of the 60s and 70s were a matter of days,<br />

but the most recent one has been a stalemate.<br />

This may tempt Israel to go nuclear. However<br />

with many nuclear powers active in the region,<br />

“the US is struggling to push the nuclear genie<br />

back into the bottle to prevent an escalation.”<br />

This might prove difficult after “having lost<br />

all credibility in the Middle East.” Its attempt<br />

to attain “omnipotence through democracy” in<br />

Laura Scherz, Byron Rupp, Peter Liva<strong>no</strong>s<br />

and George Nicholson before the talk (l to r)<br />

George Nicholson,<br />

Princess Alexandra<br />

Schönburg and<br />

John Sutin (l to r)<br />

Arnaud de<br />

Borchgrave<br />

Prince Shabib bin Taimur, Alexandra de<br />

Borchgrave, Carlos Fix and Antoinette<br />

de Scheel (l to r)<br />

Marusa Nicholson, Andrea Goulandris<br />

and Taki Theodoracopulos (l to r)<br />

NEW<br />

continued on page 3<br />

Photos: Timothy Kilchenmann


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The Power of Flowers


August 31: a night to remember<br />

As in the case of JFK, everyone remembers where<br />

they were the night Princess Diana died while<br />

being chased by paparazzi into a Parisian underpass.<br />

(It is an annually retentive grief which will<br />

reach its apotheosis on August 31 2007, the tenth<br />

anniversary of her death.) In my case, I was in a<br />

deep, drunken discussion with Jeremy Menuhin,<br />

son of Yehudi, and Oliver Gilmour, a close friend of<br />

mine who is a conductor. We were at chalet<br />

Agnela, in the Oberbort. When things got too hot -<br />

Oliver is aggressive and very opinionated - I went<br />

down to my writing den and turned on the telly. And<br />

there it was. I woke up Nigel Dempster of the Daily<br />

Mail, the numero u<strong>no</strong> gossip columnist of his time,<br />

and we watched in horrified silence. There was an<br />

added twist of fate. I had spoken to Diana about six<br />

hours earlier and had asked her if she was serious<br />

about Dodi Fayed. She had laughed, and let me to<br />

understand what I had always suspected; the<br />

whole romance bit was a publicity stunt, and her<br />

way of getting back to the royal family that had<br />

shunned her. But let’s take things from the top.<br />

I first met Diana at a friend’s wedding in 1987.<br />

When I was introduced to her by Nicky Haslam,<br />

I was very drunk and slurred my words. She<br />

thought I had a speech impediment, so she took<br />

my hand and slowly articulated “Take your time,”<br />

or words to that effect. “Oh, let him be, Ma’am,”<br />

said an exasperated Nicky, “he’s just drunk.”<br />

When I began writing the Atticus column in the<br />

Sunday Times, I often intimated that the popular<br />

Diana was unstable and would one day bring<br />

down the monarchy. Around 1994, during a<br />

dance, a friend came up and told me that the<br />

princess would like to speak to me. I went over to<br />

her table and she asked me to sit down. But, as<br />

luck would have it, and being a bit worse for wear,<br />

I missed the chair and ended up under the table.<br />

She burst out laughing, looked down and asked<br />

me, “Do you really believe that I’m crazy?”<br />

Although in my cups, I came up with a good one;<br />

“All I k<strong>no</strong>w is that I’m crazy about you.”<br />

continued from page 1<br />

Iraq has failed so far, and taking a harder<br />

line towards Israel is out of the question because<br />

of the powerful Israeli lobby APAC.<br />

“Escaping this dilemma with the current<br />

administration is proving to be close to impossible.”<br />

With the internet helping the radicals,<br />

a crisis in democracy, and the oversimplification<br />

of events in the media preventing a better<br />

As they say in that well-k<strong>no</strong>wn film, it was the<br />

beginning of a beautiful friendship. She suggested<br />

we have dinner in my house, and when I told her<br />

that the last thing I needed was paparazzi parked<br />

outside watching my comings and goings, she<br />

smiled that alluring smile of hers and said, “They<br />

only catch me when I wish them to.” Her method<br />

was fool-proof. She would leave Kensington Palace<br />

lying down in the boot of her car. A driver would<br />

then deposit her in some dark street where a small<br />

white Peugeot was parked. He would then return<br />

to KP and wait for her call to pick her up later and<br />

return her to the palace in the same manner.<br />

There was absolutely <strong>no</strong> romance between us. She<br />

said little, but I knew about the Pakistani doctor<br />

and when I asked her about him she just smiled<br />

without saying yes or <strong>no</strong>. She once asked me to invite<br />

all the major editors to my house so she could<br />

have a tête-à-tête with them. I knew I was being<br />

used but didn’t mind at all. The fun part of that<br />

evening was the arrival of Louis Francke after dinner.<br />

Young Louis had <strong>no</strong> idea he was sitting next to<br />

her and asked her whether she was from Russia.<br />

When she asked where he was from he said one<br />

word; Gstaad.<br />

Needless to say, I changed my tune in my Atticus<br />

column. I became her greatest champion, to such<br />

an extent, in fact, that a<br />

major royal asked me to<br />

lunch and popped the<br />

question. “Are you having<br />

a romance with her?”<br />

When I said it was <strong>no</strong>t even<br />

close, he said, “But then<br />

how could you change your<br />

opinion so quickly?” Well,<br />

it was those droopy eyes<br />

and the teasing that did it. Tapies<br />

My wife and daughter once<br />

opened a letter from her<br />

and began to imitate her.<br />

Diana was a great user,<br />

and she knew that men<br />

understanding on all sides,<br />

de Borchgrave has a<br />

pessimistic, or what he<br />

calls a “realistic optimistic<br />

outlook” on conflict in the<br />

Middle East.<br />

By Timothy Kilchenmann<br />

ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE<br />

Arnaud de Borchgrave is a respected journalist. In the past decades he has been senior<br />

editor of Newsweek and editor-in-chief of the Washington Times and Insight magazine, where<br />

he significantly increased both circulation and influence. In 1991 he became editor-at-large of<br />

the Washington Times. Seven years later, de Borchgrave became the President and CEO of<br />

United Press International with the mission to pilot it into the digital age. Since stepping down<br />

from this prestigious role, he has returned to being editor-at-large for UPI, and directing the<br />

transnational threats initiative at the centre for strategic and international studies.<br />

liked compliments about<br />

their masculinity and their<br />

k<strong>no</strong>wledge of history. At<br />

least I do.<br />

So when the Dodi-Diana<br />

headlines broke, I happened<br />

to be in Gstaad. When Nigel<br />

Dempster arrived I told him<br />

my gut feeling was that it<br />

EDITORIAL<br />

Taki Theodoracopulos<br />

was all a sham. When I read she was in Paris on<br />

that last fateful day, I rung her up on her private<br />

mobile, a number I had very rarely used before,<br />

in front of an unbelieving Nigel. “Hello stranger,”<br />

she cooed. “I’m ringing on a professional basis,”<br />

said yours truly. “Will you be wearing a shador<br />

any time soon?” She burst into laughter and said,<br />

“You k<strong>no</strong>w better than that.”<br />

The rest we all k<strong>no</strong>w about. Her closest friend,<br />

Rosa Monckton, agrees with my theory. Not many<br />

do. But it’s a very sad day indeed when rumours<br />

that Prince Philip had her k<strong>no</strong>cked off reach the<br />

small screen, and when publicity hungry police<br />

officers “look into” her death as a possible murder.<br />

Prince Philip and the Queen deserve better than<br />

that on her eightieth birthday. Conspiracy theories<br />

are almost as bad as the crime they profess to<br />

uncover itself. By Taki Theodoracopulos<br />

BUCH BILD GALERIE<br />

KIRCHSTRASSE<br />

3780 GSTAAD<br />

T 033 744 89 66<br />

Opening times: Tue–Fri 14–18h Sat 10–<strong>16</strong>h Closed Sundays and Mondays<br />

MASTHEAD Editorial: Alexandra de Scheel alexandra.descheel@gstaadlife.ch; Antoinette de Scheel antoinette.descheel@gstaadlife.ch; Xavier Ferguson xavier.ferguson@gstaadlife.ch;<br />

Frank Müller frank.mueller@gstaadlife.ch; Rauda Al Qubaisi rauda@gstaadlife.ch Peter Kuntze-Schneider (Advertising) peter.kuntze@gstaadlife.ch<br />

Publishing, Conception, Printing: Müller Marketing & Druck AG, Gstaad. Subscriptions: Tel. 033 748 88 74, Elsbeth Wyss 3<br />

Ins_Kuenstler_EU_USA_hoch.indd 1 23.8.20<strong>06</strong> 8:54:15 Uhr<br />

Fazzi<strong>no</strong><br />

Serra<br />

Private collection<br />

with artists from<br />

Europe and the US<br />

Baselitz<br />

Photo: Timothy Kilchenmann


SPORTS / TALKING POINT<br />

Team Land Rover wins 1 st Cartier Gold Cup<br />

The 1 st Cartier Gold Cup was held at<br />

Gstaad-Saanen airfield between August 17 and<br />

20. Despite changeable weather conditions,<br />

records crowds turned out to see Team Land<br />

Rover, owned by Fabien Pictet and his son<br />

Sascha, grab victory in the closing seconds of<br />

an exciting final against Ricardo Tattoni’s Team<br />

Cartier by the slim margin of 7 1 ⁄2 to 7. Milo<br />

Fernandez Araujo, one of the world’s best polo<br />

Talking point<br />

Gstaad à discrétion<br />

Pierre E Genecand<br />

President, Polo Club Gstaad<br />

<strong>GstaadLife</strong>, No. 14, August 11 20<strong>06</strong><br />

“For me, it’s good when you have the paparazzi.<br />

When we have important people, we need to<br />

have one or two paparazzi. We have to live with<br />

them all over the world. We might have them<br />

here already but you never k<strong>no</strong>w. For us, it’s <strong>no</strong>t<br />

an issue. If I have 100 paparazzi, I’m happy.”<br />

Marcel Bach<br />

Organizer, Country Night Gstaad<br />

Das Magazin, No. 33, August 19 20<strong>06</strong><br />

“[Gstaad] people are <strong>no</strong>t so into being in the<br />

papers as in other places, such as St Moritz,<br />

Photo: made available<br />

players, was the star of the show, carrying his<br />

team to victory despite sustaining a shoulder<br />

injury. Overall feedback regarding the event,<br />

which was organized for the first time by Pierre<br />

E Genecand and his new team at the Polo Club<br />

Gstaad, was very positive, and local residents<br />

and VIP guests alike were able to soak up<br />

the atmosphere in the expanded tent and polo<br />

village. For full results visit: www.gstaadlife.com<br />

where people go to champagne parties in order<br />

to make themselves seem more important than<br />

they actually are. The tendency of our guests<br />

is to take step down the ladder.”<br />

Desmond Corcoran,<br />

<strong>GstaadLife</strong> reader, August 18 20<strong>06</strong><br />

“I have been reading with mounting alarm,<br />

the recent interview in <strong>GstaadLife</strong> with the<br />

new president of the Polo Club. It seems that<br />

having had to suffer the constant <strong>no</strong>ise of<br />

the rampant construction industry we are <strong>no</strong>w<br />

to be invaded by hordes of paparazzi and all<br />

the attended evil that comes with these people.<br />

Obviously this person has <strong>no</strong> sense of the<br />

serenity and beauty of this valley where we<br />

have chosen to live, our security, or any respect<br />

for our privacy. One can only hope that he comes<br />

to understand the ways of Gstaad.”<br />

Tell us what you think:<br />

• Visit the new <strong>GstaadLife</strong> website at<br />

www.gstaadlife.com and press ‘Comments’<br />

under the “Talking point” article, or<br />

• Send an email to talkingpoint@gstaadlife.ch<br />

Photos: Raphaël Faux


And Action! Gstaad Film short film festival<br />

From August 25 to 27 the second <strong>edition</strong> of the<br />

international short film festival, Gstaad Film,<br />

will take place. As a platform for artists who<br />

have extended their work into the field of film,<br />

rather than professional directors, it is the only<br />

film-festival of its kind.<br />

There are only two restrictions for entries; the films<br />

must be shorter than 10 minutes, and they are <strong>no</strong>t<br />

allowed to be cartoons. Beat Michel, director of<br />

Gstaad Film, explains the idea was initiated two<br />

years ago by Wandelbar International and the<br />

Filmpodium Saanenland. “If artists compete with<br />

professional directors they often have a hard stand.<br />

Also, with this format we do <strong>no</strong>t have to measure<br />

ourselves against all the big festivals.”<br />

Visitors have the choice of either viewing<br />

“Screening 01” in the Grand Hotel Bellevue’s<br />

private cinema, or “Screening 02” in the Wandelbar<br />

Lounge. The two screenings each have a<br />

different set of 12 films. The short films are<br />

shown in three blocks of four, and in between<br />

each block there is short break. Michel explains,<br />

“The festival is meant to be more of an<br />

exhibition that a rigid film viewing. People<br />

are meant to be able to move freely from site<br />

Important Numbers<br />

Medical emergency number 0900 57 67 47<br />

Saanen Hospital 033 748 02 00<br />

Hospital in Château-d’Œx 026 924 75 93<br />

Fire-brigade 118 · Police 117<br />

Car accident service<br />

7 days, 24 hours, Tel. 033 744 88 80<br />

For additional useful numbers please<br />

visit www.gstaadlife.ch/usefulnumbers<br />

RELIABLE<br />

WEATHER<br />

Don’t forget to check<br />

page 2 of your<br />

Anzeiger von Saanen.<br />

CHURCH SERVICES St Peter’s English-speaking<br />

Anglican Church, Château-d’Œx<br />

Sunday August 27: 17h30. Scripture union, Rev. Clive Atkinson<br />

Roman Catholic Church St Josef, Gstaad<br />

Friday August 25: 18h00 Santa Misa (f); Saturday August 26: 18h00 Holy Mass;<br />

Sunday August 27: 11h00 Holy Mass in Memorial of Lilian Murdoch; <strong>16</strong>h00 Santa<br />

Misa (esp); Wednesday August 30: <strong>16</strong>h30 Rosary; 17h00 Holy Mass<br />

For your next stay in Gstaad:<br />

***** Gstaad Palace: La Grande Terrasse, Snack & Barbecue, Le Grill, The Lobby Bar &<br />

GreenGo Nightclub, Beauty&Spa, 4 tennis courts, Olympic size outdoor pool, and<br />

squash. Tel: 033 748 50 00, Fax 033 748 50 01, info@palace.ch, www.palace.ch<br />

***** Grand Hotel Park, Gstaad: 99 rooms, Spa Chakra Wellness-Care, Restaurants:<br />

“Le Greenhouse”, “Die Pa<strong>no</strong>ramaterrasse”, “Le Grand Restaurant”, “Marco Polo”,<br />

“Le Chalet Waldhuus”. Tel: 033 748 98 00, www.grandhotelpark.ch<br />

***** Grand Hotel Bellevue, Gstaad: GaultMillau Hotel of Year 2003, 70 beds, 2,500 m2 SPA, “Restaurant Prado”, Restaurant “Coelho” with sun-terrace, “Bellevue-Bar”,<br />

“Porsche 911 Club”, “Car<strong>no</strong>tzet”. Tel: 033 748 00 00, www.bellevue-gstaad.ch<br />

to site, watch the screenings intermixed, at their<br />

own liberty.” During breaks the artists will<br />

be around for discussion. This format enables<br />

a fair comparison of the short pieces, giving<br />

everyone a chance to make up their mind which<br />

film they truly like best.<br />

The second <strong>edition</strong> of the festival was originally<br />

intended for last winter. A lack of films forced the<br />

organizers to push the event back to the summer.<br />

This step was worthwhile. With 140 signed-up<br />

films, the number of applications has more than<br />

doubled since the original date. “This is probably<br />

because the participants were given more time to<br />

complete their pieces,” says Michel. “We are going<br />

to keep this experience in mind and hold these<br />

festivals every other year, at least until it becomes<br />

better k<strong>no</strong>wn.” The organizers are also optimistic<br />

about the number of visitors: “An event by<br />

Dutchartdesk will run at the same time, so the<br />

interested people will be in town.”<br />

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By Timothy Kilchenmann<br />

August 25 20<strong>06</strong>, 19h30, Galerie wandelbar<br />

and Grand Hotel Bellevue, Gstaad.<br />

For more information visit www.gstaadfilm.ch<br />

Friday August 25 until<br />

Thursday August 31 20<strong>06</strong><br />

50th Menuhin Festival Gstaad<br />

EVENTS / LOCAL NEWS<br />

Herrmann golf<br />

competition August 20<br />

Gabriele Steers<br />

on the driving range<br />

before the match<br />

Charlie Werren and<br />

Karl Krogstadt<br />

ready for battle<br />

Marianne Matti, Walter Herrmann,<br />

Jane Herrmann at the start<br />

19h30 August 25 - London Symphony Orchestra, Festival Tent, Gstaad<br />

22h30 August 25 - Les Nocturnes de Mozart, Gstaad Chapel<br />

19h30 August 26 - London Symphony Orchestra II and Maxim Vengerov,<br />

Festival Tent, Gstaad<br />

<strong>16</strong>h30 August 28 - The Magic Flute for children by Saanenland Music<br />

School, Festival Tent, Gstaad<br />

20h00 August 30 - Friends with the Genie – “Abbé” Bullinger and Mozart,<br />

Saanen Church<br />

20h00 August 31 - Laureates from the Geneva Arts Society,<br />

Rougemont Church Visit www.menuhinfestivalgstaad.ch<br />

Gstaad Art Film Festival INFO: 076 437 71 21<br />

Screening of International Short Film Festival for Artists starts<br />

today at the Galerie wandelbar & Grand Hotel Bellevue, Gstaad.<br />

Visit www.gstaadfilm.ch<br />

20h00 Brass Band Concert INFO: 079 669 50 03<br />

Enjoy a concert by the Brass Band in the Promenade in Gstaad<br />

directed by Michael Bach. Email samuel.matti@bkw-fmb.ch<br />

20h30 Folklore Night Lauenen<br />

Live folk music at the Hotel Wildhorn in Lauenen.<br />

Email hotel@wildhorn.ch or call 033 765 30 12 for more information.<br />

Friday August 25<br />

13h00 Powerstation Art – Vernissage INFO: 079 358 55 33<br />

An exchange project between Switzerland and the Netherlands<br />

focusing on culture and integration of children at the Galerie<br />

Wandelbar in Gstaad. Visit www.powerstationart.ch/en/<br />

20h00 Dixi-Night<br />

Dixi-Night at the Gasthof Derby in Zweisimmen.<br />

Email gasthof_derby@bluewin.ch<br />

INFO: 033 722 14 38<br />

Sunday August 27<br />

10h00 La Pascal Richard INFO: 079 448 09 25<br />

The cyclists will pass through Saanenland on their 95 km / 135 km journey.<br />

For more information visit www.pascal-richard.ch<br />

13h00 Suufsuntig<br />

Enjoy this joyful event drinking and watching the<br />

INFO: 033 765 36 55<br />

“Champion Cow” Queen of the Alps in Unters Blatti, Lauenen.<br />

18h00<br />

Try soup and other products from the Bernese Oberland<br />

INFO: 033 733 40 20<br />

in Schiessanlage Mannried, Zweisimmen. Visit www.gnusswuche.ch<br />

events<br />

5<br />

Photos: George Nicholson


A NEW ORANGE BOX IN GSTAAD.<br />

HERMÈS CHALET CENTRAL, GSTAAD. TEL. 033 744 4321


If dog, cat, or any other<br />

common pet has an<br />

accident in Saanenland<br />

there are several<br />

courses of action that<br />

might be appropriate.<br />

For smaller injuries,<br />

such as cuts, one can<br />

visit the local vet. For more serious injuries,<br />

such as fractures, taking the pet to clinics in<br />

Thun or Interlaken may be necessary.<br />

For all pet injuries, irrespective of their severity,<br />

it is best to get in touch with a local vet first. The<br />

two main vets in Saanenland, Dr Neff and Dr<br />

Hauswirth, spend much of their time touring<br />

farms, so agreeing an appointment in advance<br />

is necessary to ensure the vet’s presence in the<br />

practice at the agreed time. For emergencies,<br />

they work together to ensure that one or the<br />

other is always on call. Whilst the pattern of<br />

who works on which day and who covers<br />

which weekend is irregular, either Dr Neff or<br />

Dr Hauswirth is always available on their office<br />

number. Emergencies will even be tended to in<br />

the middle of the night.<br />

Dr Neff and Dr Hauswirth can treat small<br />

problems locally. They can medicate, deal<br />

with wounds and do tests on common pets. Only<br />

exotic animals can sometimes be beyond their<br />

expertise. Starting from September, the list of<br />

injuries that can be dealt with will lengthen<br />

substantially. Dr Hauswirt will retire and will<br />

be replaced by Dr Frolos. She intends to offer<br />

X-rays, blood tests and simple operations. It is<br />

hoped that expensive trips to the animal clinics<br />

in Thun and Interlaken will therefore become<br />

less common.<br />

Even after Dr Frolos takes over, extensive<br />

treatment, for example surgery, will still need to<br />

take place in Thun or Interlaken. These animal<br />

clinics are open 24 hours a day, with specialized<br />

doctors on call day and night. Making the step to<br />

the clinic should be checked with the local vets.<br />

A doctor in Thun commented, “pet owners often<br />

lack the expertise to determine whether their<br />

pet’s injury is an emergency or <strong>no</strong>t.” Therefore it<br />

is recommended that pets are always brought to<br />

the local vet to be checked first. This gives the<br />

vet a chance to stabilize the injury, and then<br />

make an informed decision about whether or<br />

<strong>no</strong>t a trip to down the valley is necessary. They<br />

can also suggest the form of transportation<br />

that is most appropriate. Usually a car or taxi<br />

is sufficient. In exceptional circumstances,<br />

where time is critical, or if the pet is particularly<br />

prone to further injury, a helicopter may be<br />

recommended. The clinic in Thun has a football<br />

field next door, which, with advance <strong>no</strong>tice, can<br />

be used for landing. No matter what situation a<br />

pet is in, help is at hand.<br />

Finally it is worth remembering two things. Firstly,<br />

GSTAAD FYI<br />

Keeping the dogs barking and the cats meowing<br />

One reader’s experience<br />

Driving from Gstaad to Feutersoey, we came<br />

upon a dog that had been hit by a car. It was<br />

badly wounded, but completely conscious and<br />

in great pain. The man who had driven over the<br />

dog had called the police who had just arrived at<br />

the scene, and there were four or five officers<br />

there when we arrived. There was a friend of<br />

mine with the dog in the middle of the road. It<br />

was <strong>no</strong>t possible to move the dog without a<br />

muzzle, a blanket and a stretcher, and having<br />

only been called out for a dog, the police had<br />

only brought a dog cage. They went to get<br />

a stretcher, and we had the blanket and the<br />

muzzle in our car. The police were mainly<br />

interested in finding the owner of the dog, which<br />

only had a collar without a name tag or a chip.<br />

We kept insisting to find a vet and that we would<br />

pay for all the expenses. Then we finally got<br />

them to start calling the<br />

different vets. It was<br />

Sunday, and there was <strong>no</strong><br />

vet available; either they<br />

were <strong>no</strong>t answering or they<br />

were in the Alps. We tried every small animal vet<br />

from Bulle (where someone answered the phone<br />

but was <strong>no</strong>t able to handle this case) to Thun.<br />

They were the closest that could take care of her.<br />

But by this time the dog had been lying in the<br />

sun and police car for some considerable time,<br />

and doing 45 minutes on the road would have<br />

given her <strong>no</strong> chance to survive. We therefore<br />

called for a helicopter. The police drove with her<br />

to Saanen airport and one policeman, two pilots,<br />

and my husband flew with her on the 15-minute<br />

ride to Thun. They were able to land on the<br />

football field just across from the clinic, where a<br />

taxi and the police were there to help.<br />

Her front leg needed to be amputated, and she<br />

had several fractures in her hind quarters. That<br />

same evening they were able to contact the<br />

owner, who drove to the clinic and elected to<br />

have her put to sleep. Maybe she could have been<br />

saved but it would have taken some time for her<br />

to live a <strong>no</strong>rmal life. If the owner had <strong>no</strong>t showed<br />

up we would have taken care of her.<br />

Animals have the same feelings and feel pain just<br />

like we do; they also have the same right to live<br />

if are you <strong>no</strong>t able to reach a vet, you can and<br />

should get in touch directly with the animal clinic.<br />

Secondly, standard insurance does <strong>no</strong>t cover these<br />

costs and they must be borne privately.<br />

INFORMATION<br />

Dr Neff: 033 744 35 31<br />

Dr Hauswirth: 033 744 31 41<br />

By Timothy Kilchenmann<br />

Animal Clinic Thun: 033 222 44 77<br />

Animal Clinic Interlaken: 033 822 21 41<br />

on this earth.<br />

It is <strong>no</strong>t because<br />

we are more<br />

intelligent that<br />

we should treat<br />

animals without<br />

respect. It is <strong>no</strong>t right that it was impossible<br />

to find a vet during the weekend. For humans<br />

there are always doctors on duty. The police<br />

came to the scene but without a list of different<br />

vets, and suitable first aid supplies such as a<br />

stretcher, muzzle etc. They were in <strong>no</strong> hurry<br />

to get the dog to a vet to alleviate its suffering,<br />

except for the suggestion to take her to a forester<br />

and have her shot in the head. I do <strong>no</strong>t think they<br />

would do this with a person or a child.<br />

7<br />

Photos: Art collection


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