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29 October 2004

Monks criticised for muzzling canine tradition in the Swiss Alps


Geneva (ENI). Swiss officials have urged Roman Catholic monks at the Great St Bernard Hospice in the Swiss Alps to reconsider plans to sell off their stock of mountain dogs, which became famed for rescuing travellers on the stormy Great St Bernard pass to Italy.

"We just can't understand it," said Barbara Ziegler, director of the tourist office in nearby Martigny. "These dogs are the monastery's major source of revenue. We can't see any reason for selling them." Ziegler was reacting to the news in early October that the Congregation of Canons of the Great St Bernard intended to auction the St Bernard dogs, which, from the monks' mountain-top hospice, or hostel, are said to have rescued up to 2500 people over the past 200 years.

But a monastery spokeswoman defended the proposed auction of the dogs saying the current stock had served its purpose.

"The last time these dogs rescued anyone was more than 30 years ago," said Beatrice Troillet, a member of the Swiss St Bernard Association. "People should realise monks have other things to do than just feed pets all day."

She said male St Bernards weighed up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and consumed 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of meat daily. The dogs represented a major expense in time and money to the monastery, which could barely cope with other tasks including running a boarding school and welcoming 50 000 visitors every year.

"We're well aware they have icon status, and no one's disputing that they're gentle and cuddly," Troillet told Ecumenical News International. "But monks shouldn't be expected to look after dogs when they've important pastoral duties to fulfil."

But Martigny's tourist office director Ziegler said most of the monastery's income resulted from the St Bernards. "They don't seem to realise people come to see the dogs, not the monks," she said.

Still, the dogs' new owners would be asked to bring their charges back to the hospice for the tourist period in the summer, the Reuters news agency reported.

One of five monks still living at the hostel, Brother Frederic, told The Associated Press the dogs had ceased to be useful after the arrival of mountain-rescue helicopters in 1955, and had now been replaced by quicker, lighter-footed German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers.

The hostel is reputed to have been founded in the middle ages by St Bernard of Montjoux, or Menthon, almost 2500 metres above sea-level to offer food and accommodation to travellers crossing the Alps from nearby Italy.

The Augustinian monks began training mountain dogs in the late 17th century to rescue travellers on the pass, which suffers from wind and snow for about 245 days each year.

The high-stamina, disease-resistant dog which took the name of St Bernard became noted for its keen senses, and could find tracks and smell-out buried avalanche victims.

The St Bernards traditionally worked in pairs on rescue operations, with one dog going to raise the alarm, while the other sat atop stranded hikers, licking them hard to keep them warm.

But experts note that victims of hypothermia would have been ill-advised to accept the offer of brandy in a barrel, which according to legend was strapped around the dogs' necks - alcohol consumption, the experts point out, accelerates heat loss.

:: Reporting by Jonathan Luxmoore, Warsaw

© 1994 - 2006 Ecumenical News International.

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