Saudi man kills snake, thrown in jail

A Saudi man on holiday in Switzerland thought he was doing a good deed when he killed a loose snake in a park. But instead of getting a round of applause, he got jail time.

Published: 3 August 2011 14:58 CEST

According to a report in the Arabic language daily Sharq, the Saudi man had been on a visit to the park with other tourists when he saw the snake on the ground. He then grabbed a rock and crushed the reptile’s head.

But afterwards, bystanders called police who arrested him and charged him with killing a rare snake.

Police told him he should have called an animal welfare group instead of just killing the animal. The newspaper did not say where the incident occurred or if the man was still in custody.

Switzerland has some of the toughest animal welfare laws in the world on its books.

A 2008 law made it illegal for social animals, like pigs, goldfish, horses and other social animals to be kept alone. Cows must have regular exercise outside in summer and winter, and courses on animal welfare are obligatory – dog owners must learn about pet care and anglers about compassion.

But last year, Swiss voters did vote down a proposal to introduce a system of state-funded lawyers to represent animals in courts.

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Two victims suffered serious wounds, police said. The attacker was also in hospital being treated for injuries that investigators said were self-inflicted.

The man was “believed to be of foreign origin” and was aged about 40, police said in a statement which added that he was thought to have acted alone.

All of the injured remained hospitalised late Wednesday.

Armed with “sharpened or pointed” metal weapons, the man first lashed out at a passer-by at the railway station in the town of 12,000 people in the Aargau canton, about 60 kilometres (38 miles) west of Zurich, police said.

He then wounded several people seemingly at random before entering a house, police added.

Among those attacked were two teachers from the Zofingen cantonal school, the institution’s director, Patrick Strossler, told 20minuten.ch news website.

The Aargauer Zeitung newspaper quoted one man as saying his pregnant wife had been among those attacked. She was cut in the face but her life was not threatened.

After two hours of negotiations with a specialised team, the man was arrested in the house, police said. The suspect had injured himself and was taken to hospital, said Bernhard Graser, a police spokesman.

Graser told the Zofinger Tagblatt newspaper that the attacker’s injuries were self-inflicted.

Police have called for witnesses to share video or photos that may be useful for their investigation.

Images shown by Aargauer Zeitung showed a large deployment of police and emergency vehicles. The security forces had assault rifles and bullet-proof vests.

A police helicopter landed on a nearby sports field, causing the local youth football team to cut short a training session, the newspaper said.