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17/03/2004: "Castration on subscription"
As I was walking through the streets of St. Gallen village, I was stopped by a girl who jumped in front of me and asked me if I knew Vier Pfoten, which I didn't. She then flipped through her folder of plastic slides and explained in her Bern Swiss German about all the pain inflicted to animals in the world and how her association was helping out, from castrating stray dogs to putting dancing bears in special parks.
The solutions offered seemed surprisingly reasonable coming from the mouth of a teenage animal-hugging girl. So, as her flow of words was taking me dangerously near to shops closing time (the few hours they are actually open in St. Gallen village), I told her I found her projects good and wanted to give her 10 Swiss Francs (4.30£).
To my utter astonishment, she declined my offer, saying she was only taking membership subscriptions with monthly fees of 10 to 20 Swiss Francs. I said I was only willing to give her money in cash now or not at all. Stubbornly, with what I took was a certain pride at resisting my attempts at corrupting her principles, she said the word that most Swiss German babies learn first, namely NEI (meaning no).
So, any rich readers out there wanting to save animals, please be very generous, or you might be turned down.
